This game has it's good moments, and then it has it's terrible moments.
One of the nice things about this game is that it has an AHL licence, meaning it has AHL teams on it, with all the players. So you can basically call up somebody from the AHL if somebody from the NHL squad is injured. Only thing is, the commentary doesn't announce the names of the AHL players. It just mentions the position. Though they do have the numbers.
I'll mention this right now, the goalie AI is absolutely abysmal. They move like dead snails from post to post. Plus, they have problems handling the pucks. Once, the puck was slowly sliding over to my goalie, who then positioned himself to play it, though the puck hit his stick, and kept on going, and then it was in the net. In that same game, in OT, he kicked the puck into his own net. I was quite angry. They also do a bad job of getting out of their nets to fetch the pucks. Whenever they are in position, they can make saves, unless if you wire it. You won't find the goaltending in this game.
Some of the mechanics in this game are also pretty bad. Passing is not that good. Hitting isn't the best in the 2006 hockey games. Shooting is not the worst I've seen, but certainly not the best. Other than that, the game works fine. As for the game modes, there are a couple. Gretzky vs Gretzky is a fun mode. Rivalry Mode is alright, though I've seen better alternatives in other games. Franchise mode is okay, it does have bugs, but like mentioned earlier, it's nice that they got the AHL in this game. Only problem with the rosters is that they are way out of date. The good thing is that you can go online for roster updates for free.
The graphics in this game are not great. I've seen worse, but not the best. The player models are okay. The faces are not good. Puck motion is not great, and there are a few framerate problems. As for the sounds, the effects are okay. Commentary is mediocre at best, and like mentioned earlier, they don't mention the names of the AHL players.
In the end, for hockey fans, this is just a nice little game that you can try out, but it's certainly not the best. It does have a couple of neat features, but then it has a bunch of flaws. Wayne Gretzky hockey is a game that should be played on actual ice by the great one, not on videogames it seems. This is not the type of game that would win the "Hockey Game of the Year Award" if there ever was one.