Eastside Hockey Manager, commonly known as EHM or NHL EHM is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series about managing an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team. The series started out as a popular freeware game and later evolved into the commercial NHL Eastside Hockey Manager games developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega.

''Eastside Hockey Manager'' (2001)

The game series started out after a small hobby project ''Eastside Hockey Manager'' grew step by step and eventually led into the creation of a

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the f ...

game called ''Eastside Hockey Manager: 2nd Generation'', generally referred to as the original ''Eastside Hockey Manager'' or in short EHM. This first public release in the series was created by a small independent team led by Finnish programmer Risto Remes. The

is about managing an

team. Complete with computer controlled AI teams and the possibility to set up online leagues to play against friends. The game simulated the full

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

season and had a database of around 3,000 players and staff and featured virtually unlimited number of seasons to play. After the game picked up a large following in the internet, it was 'spotted' by a leading member of British game developers

Sports Interactive Sports Interactive Limited is a British video game developer based in London, best known for the ''Football Manager'' series. Founded by brothers Oliver and Paul Collyer in July 1994, the studio was acquired by Japanese video game publisher Sega ...

''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager''

In 2002, the series branched as Remes signed with

to work on a commercial version of the game. The new version of the game went by the working title of "Eastside Hockey Manager: Franchise Edition" before being released by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

under the name of ''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager'' in 2004. Rather than bringing over the code of the original freeware game, the new game was built upon the technology used in

's highly successful soccer management series Championship Manager 3.

''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005''

In May 2005,

and

released the first sequel for the commercial version, called ''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005''. The European release of the 2005 version was based on the 2004–05 hockey season and featured new licensed leagues to play and updated the user interface of the game as well as other areas of the game. In late September 2005, a North American version of the game was released with updated rules for the 2005–06 hockey season. At the same time, a free season update was released for the European version of the 2005 game to bring it up-to-date. The artwork for ''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2005'' included a photograph of Michael Brabon who at the time, was playing for

Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...

''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007''

''NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007'' was released on September 22, 2006. It includes many new features, such as a fantasy draft, a new real-time 2D engine and a new

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

. This game is only currently available via digital download.

''Eastside Hockey Manager'' (2015)

''Eastside Hockey Manager'' was released on December 1, 2015, and is the newest edition of the game after an eight-year hiatus. It includes many new features, such as an increase in the number of playable leagues and international competitions, an improved 2D match engine, support for custom and historic databases, and full

Steam Workshop Steam is a Digital distribution of video games, video game digital distribution service and storefront by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 as a way for Valve to provide automatic updates for their ...

functionality. This game is only currently available on PC, via

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Freeware games Ice hockey video games Sega Games franchises Sports management video games