This is the deepest, most accurate, most addictive hockey game you will ever see. Get ready to spend some time on this!
What you shouldn't expect with this game is a beautifully rendered rink, reflections in players' visors, etc. This isn't that kind of game. You'll see little stick-figures moving around the ice (assuming you're the kind of manager who even wants to watch the games). The real action takes place in the database, where you move your lines around, make trade offers, and do your hiring/firing of staff. The games get simulated, but you can take control to do all the coaching if you want. As I said, the graphics aren't flashy, but the menus are nicely rendered. Ditto for the sound - no music, but the game sounds are fairly good, including puck sounds, crowd noises, and the carving of the ice. One significant absence from this year is the player photos which usually went with each profile - only AHL players and some other minor-leaguers are included, but no NHLers.
In terms of the playable leagues and teams, the only notable absence is the NCAA (for licensing reasons) but enough mods are on the market to fix this necessary omission. Likewise, the fictional players in this league can be 'unfaked' to add to the realism. The nuances of the game, including the tactics sliders, take some time to get used to and some practice to figure out the exact effect some of these have on your players' performance, so feel free to let your coach have some leeway in the early going, at least until you've figured out how your guys are doing.
An interesting, but not necessarily useful feature is that every time you save this game, it records how much game time you've clocked (I'm up to 10 days thus far) and it also lets you know how addicted to the game you are at this point, i.e. 'Don't forget to brush your teeth'. Helpful reminders, all. All this time isn't spent on one season, either. The game continues for decades past the 2006-07 season, with youth players moving up the ranks to replace retirees.
If you can judge a game by how many times your wife tells you to put the damn thing away and come to bed, then this one is the best there is. Never before or since have I played a game with such staying power. It's a shame SI Interactive has decided to cancel future development of this series, but EHM 07 is strong enough to carry the franchise until SI revives it. Buy it, live it, love it.