Here's Your First NHL 2K10 Screen

Last month I got a chance to see NHL 2K10 in action every so briefly while in Las Vegas for a mo-cap event with the game's cover star Alex Ovechkin. Mere minutes ago, on the 2K Sports Facebook page, the company released the first screen from the game, which you can see above. Producers say there's a new feature hinted at in the screen but, to me, it just looks like Ovy took a puck in the grill and is waiting for the stretcher to cart him off the ice while Ilya Bryzgalov squats in goal and laughs.

So, what do you think of the screen and, more importantly, what do you think 2K Sports needs to do to bring the NHL 2K series back to its former glory? Personally, I think a lot could be fixed simply by slowing the game down. The pace of hockey is already quick enough to translate directly to games-- the artificial speed of NHL 2K9 felt, to me, more like a way of covering up AI flaws than a way to make the game more exciting.

That's just me, though. What do you want to see out of NHL 2K10?

[UPDATE: Eagle-eyed Twitter follower Gredler tipped me that the above screen is likely a recreation of Ovechkin's absolutely sick goal against Phoenix in 2006. So does that mean there's a "shoot while on your back button" in NHL 2K10? Please say yes.]