5 Things We Learned From Our Hands-On Time With NHL 18

EA Canada’s NHL franchise might not attract as much attention compared to other sports games on the market, as doesn’t get the widespread recognition of a Madden or NBA 2K, nor does it stir up the international fanfare that the FIFA franchise does. However, much like its real life counterpart, the NHL franchise has a tight knit and dedicated fan base who’ve come to expect a certain level of quality from their sports title of choice.

Now, almost three years removed from the misstep that was NHL 15, EA Canada has righted a number of wrongs in making this year’s game the most feature complete NHL sim to date. With a number of diverse modes, the development team has attempted to create an NHL game to appeal to every type of hockey fan imaginable. However, in doing so, they’ve glossed over a few sticking points that could have brought NHL 18 to the next level.

We had the chance to go hands on with the game at a recent EA preview event and walked away feeling (mostly) confident about this year’s release. Out of everything we saw and experienced, here’s what stuck with us the most.