More than just NHL and not eye candy
Your first decision in the game is what team do you want to control. All of the NHL clubs are there but it gives you the option of a farm team (AHL, ECHL) or Canadian Leagues but if you want a real challenge, try your hand in the many European leagues. From Britian, Denmark, Finland, Sweeden, German and even Russian Leagues are all in this game and thats only a few of them. The leagues are deep with a lot of them having three different levels in each country as well. Trades are the norm and the AI is good in handling trades but one of the many features I like in this game is in a lot of the European leagues you are limited as to a certain amount of players. In the Finland leagues, for example, you can only have a maximum of five Foriegn players on your team at the same time. Other leagues have Vetran limitations (meaning you can only have so many experienced players) but one of the more intriguing features is the beloved salary cap. To keep you on your toes the board of directors watches your every move start off by what they expect of you in your first season but go over budget and you'll hear about it. Also come under their expectations for teh year and you are literally put on the hot seat and can get fired from the club.
When the season starts you can schedule exhibition games and even have a training camp where you invite players for a chance to crack your roster. Free agents are the rule and I usually look at free agents to fill the holes in my roster. If that doesn't work then you have the option of sending scouts to every corner of the earth to look for that one player that will make or break your club.
Injuries are common and nothing hurts more than seeing your prized 30 goal scorer go down with a shoulder seperation for 4 or so months. Thus that is why farm systems and scouting are essential to your teams survival. all of teh penalties you expect are in here and in some leagues they have strict suspensions for players that get kicked out of games.
Other teams can and will contact you about trades but you do have an option of loaning out a player to a different team (providing that players actually wants to go) Players do suffer from the Barry Bonds syndrome meaning I think I am a star and don't mess with my feelings. If I don't want to go I'm not going. but as a GM you can also have a say in a players activities say if one shows up to camp overweight and tired or a goalie allows 15 goals in two games you can "discipline" him. The discipline ranges from a warning to fines. And the player is quick to let you know if he thinks your admonishment is worthy or not. Sometimes they'll say ok and improve or they can sulk about it and carry a grudge for a few weeks or months.
Another nice feature is the injury and coaches reports. Say if a player gets hurt you can get a report from the trainer letting you know just how serious the injury really is. Or during training camp the coaches let you know their thoughts on any player on the team.
At the end of the season your team is no where near done for you have a draft of prospects that will help your club the next season. Coahces have their thoughts as do the scouts. But they are not always right. Thne its contract negoations, retirements awards, all leading up to the following training camp. Which all of the other teams in yoru are improving as well.
The broad assortment of leagues makes even the experienced hocey gamer feel good. While there are some graphics its nothing like the EA games but despite that this is a very fun game to play and just the thought of seeing how teams are run in Europe gets my interest up quickly. Its not that hard to learn but try making a dynasty out of your team. the sounds are aedquate and can be turned off in the options. This is not a shoot out the lights stick game like EA but more of a thinking hockey strategy type. If you are used to Out of the Park baseball. You can quickly adapt to this one. The menus are easy and the flow is steady and you can "play" a game in as little as a minute pending on how fast your computer can run. The game will tell you of an illegal lineup along with news reports from all over the hockey world and players on how they feel about their playing time among other things.
Bottom line if you consider yourself a hocky fan, then this game is a must own.