NHL 09 Initial Thoughts

Zach and I don't agree on much here, but here's one thing we've both gone on record saying - NHL 08 is the greatest hockey game ever. Truly a superlative effort, one that I really didn't know how EA could possibly top. Well, seeing as how it's a new year, they have to try. Okay, they really don't; they could just release the same game each year like they do with Madden.

NHL 09 is one of those games where you worry that they might change too much. Last year's game was so perfect that any change could take away the subtleties that made the game great. At the same time, nobody wants to play the same game for two years straight.

What to do?

That's what we're here for. While NHL 09 isn't hitting stores until Tuesday, we have obtained a copy of the game's interactive demo. And by "obtained", I mean I downloaded it off X-Box Live, which anybody can do. Hooray for inside access!

(Note: Speaking of inside access, EA can shove it. Seriously. I can't really get into it here, but let's just say they majorly screwed over myself and my buddies over at GameFAN.)

The online demo only has two teams, the Red Wings and the Penguins. It doesn't matter. The demo does what it needs to do - show us what's different and leave us wanting more. The second one was a lot easier to accomplish than the first.

Real quick, the Play Now mode is almost identical to last year's, at least on the surface. But there's a lot more here. You can still do pretty much everything you loved doing last year, but things are a bit more refined now. The biggest change to the gameplay is the improved poke-checking and something called the "Defensive Skill Stick". This lets you lift the stick of opponents so that they can't control the puck. Aside from that, everything just works better. It's harder to gain the neutral zone because opponents don't simply back off like they used to. Slapshots from the point with no traffic in front, just like in real life, are essentially useless. Shots have a better chance of missing the net, but shots that are on target have a greater probability of being deflected. There's also supposed to be a new and improved fighting module, but it's hard to test; the demo starts your game in the third period, when it's all but impossible to start a fight.

These changes are all well and good, but the big addition this year is the Be A Pro Mode. Not unlike the Superstar Modes we've seen the past few years in Madden and FIFA, Be A Pro lets you take control of one player and one player only. So, in the demo, you can either control Sidney Crosby or Henrik Zetterberg. You can't switch guys, you don't change lines; you don't do anything but move that one player around the entire game. This is where your hockey acumen really gets tested. Anyone can pull off the same old cheap moves to score goals, but it takes a smart player to get a player into position when he doesn't have the puck. It's a whole new world of gameplay, one that looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, but we hope it doesn't render a traditional game obsolete as has happened in the Madden series. In the real game, you'll have the option to either play as an established NHL player or create your own guy and have him start out as a third-liner in the AHL. Either way, the mode is a lot of fun, but be careful - all the crazy camerawork will have you nauseous before long.

All in all, a quality demo. You might be underwhelmed at first, particularly if you've played NHL 08 religiously and don't see that many differences off the bat. But the demo shows you enough where you'd give the full version of NHL 09 a try, and that's all you can really ask for.

Islanders Schedule Analysis

The Islanders released their schedule yesterday. It's a bit... um... interesting.

OK, let's not pull any punches. It looks like the kind of schedule you'd see in a video game when you play a second season. For example, in my 2008-09 season in NHL 08, I open up at home against the Devils... only to play the Devils at home again two nights later. The Isles' schedule isn't that horrific - and for that, we are eternally grateful - but it is a bit bizarre.

Let's dig into this thing.

- Unlike last year, the Islanders will actually be playing games in October this year. No more ridiculous strings of three games in two weeks. Thank God. That the Islanders play some teams they traditionally play well against (Rangers, Flyers, Devils, Lightning) as well as some bad teams (Blues, Panthers) helps out as well.

- The Isles booked a number of matinee games, which don't seem to make that much of a difference to many of us, but are great for getting kids to come out. (No, little Kylie will not be attending her first Islander game this year, but at least she'll get to watch the earlier games on TV.) They have a matinee on just about every holiday - Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, New Year's Eve, MLK Day, and President's Day. They've scheduled some other random ones as well.

- On the national TV front, the Islanders have two chances to crack NBC's flex schedule: March 8 vs. Phoenix and March 15 vs. Chicago. Great. Figures that the NHL screws the Islanders by putting them in useless matchups against the West on Sundays. Meanwhile, on those two dates, the Rangers will be playing the Bruins and Flyers respectively. Gee, I wonder which direction NBC will take.

- Now, we get to what makes this schedule so ridiculous - the extreme number of lengthy home/road swings the Islanders will go on. They're on the road for four straight in December and then they go out to the West Coast for four more in January (thankfully, they only have one West Coast swing). The West Coast trip is followed immediately by five straight home games. Then, we get to the season's crucial point - February 26th. This is the date when the Islanders will begin a six-game home stand, which will be directly followed by six straight road games. Who the hell came up with that idea? Everyone knows attendance on Long Island picks up significantly (as in, the Coliseum is sold out) if the Islanders are involved in a playoff chase in mid-March, so let's capitalize on that by sending them on the road for two weeks in crunch time. Good f'ing job, NHL.

- The final stretch of the season is a doozy, with nine of the Isles' final eleven games being played against playoff teams from last year. One of the two non-playoff teams is the Lightning, who will be significantly better this year. Uh-oh.

- If anybody cares, the Islanders will be playing twice against the following Western Conference teams: Columbus (hello, Mr. Filatov), Phoenix (The Great One, not to mention a good young team), and Minnesota (zzzz). Let's hope the geniuses in the Islanders corporate offices make these promotional giveaway nights. Something tells me the sizzle of an Islanders-Blue Jackets matchup isn't going to sell a lot of tickets on its own.

So, how do I see this season playing out? Well, it looks like the NHL did the Islanders a favor by giving them a lot of rivalry games early on so people can see them playing at their best, thereby helping the Isles to sell tickets for their remaining slate of games. However, the lengthy road trips will take their toll on this team; if they don't do the Islanders in, their punishing April will. They could sneak into the playoffs, but it's going to be a tall order indeed.

Stanley Cup Champions

"The New York Islanders are the 2007-2008 Stanley Cup Champions!" - Gary Thorne

The Islanders are champions of the world. Or, at least they are in the X-Box 360 world. In NHL 08, the Islanders just defeated the Minnesota Wild by a score of 3-1 to clinch their fifth Stanley Cup. Bryan Berg won the Conn Smythe with 14 goals and 23 points in 19 games.

Since it took a great deal of work to turn the Islanders into winners, we'll be looking at exactly how it was done. It wasn't easy to turn this batch of grinders and bad contracts into a Cup contender, let alone a playoff team. However, in NHL 08, it was possible. We here at The Rivalry have a tremendous amount of reverence for this game; the video game site I write for, Die Hard GameFAN, voted NHL 08 the 2007 Sports Game Of The Year. In the coming weeks, we'll be linking to an exclusive interview I did with EA Canada about NHL 09.

Anyway. In short order, you'll see the free agent signings, trades, and player creations that were necessary to just barely get this team into the playoffs. From there, the team was able to round into form and capture the Cup. But it sure wasn't easy.

Coming soon: Rebuilding The Islanders, Part 1: The Overhaul