''NHL'' (colloquially referred to as Chel) is a series of professional ice hockey simulation video games developed by

EA Vancouver EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest and ...

and published yearly by Electronic Arts under the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

brand. The game is developed under license from the National Hockey League (NHL), which enables the use of the league's team names, stadiums and colors in the game, and the

National Hockey League Players' Association NHLPA (french: AJLNH) is the labour union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the 32 member clubs in the National Hockey League (NHL) located in the United States and Canada. The association re ...

(NHLPA), which enables the use of the League's player names and likenesses.

Installments

{, class="wikitable" ! Title ! Year ! Platforms ! Cover athletes, worldwide ! Cover athletes, specific regions , - , ''

NHL Hockey ''NHL Hockey'' (titled ''EA Hockey'' outside North America) is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. Released in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, it is the first game in the ''NHL'' series. Cover Glenn Healy who was then a goaltender fo ...

'' , , 1991 , , SMD , , , – , - , ''

NHLPA Hockey '93 ''NHLPA Hockey '93'' is a Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System ice hockey game developed by Park Place Productions and published by Electronic Arts Sports Network. It is the second installment of the NHL series and the first to be ...

'' , , 1992 , , SMD,

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eu ...

, , , – , - , '' NHL '94'' , , 1993 , , DOS, SCD, SMD, SNES , , , – , - , ''

NHL 95 ''NHL 95'' (also known as NHL Hockey 95) is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Genesis. The team rosters and player attributes in the gam ...

'' , , 1994 , , DOS, GB, GG, SMD, SNES , , , – , - , ''

NHL 96 ''NHL 96'' is a 1995 sports video game developed by EA Tiburon for the SNES, High Score Productions for the Sega Genesis, EA Vancouver, EA Canada for DOS, and Probe Entertainment for the Game Boy. EA Sports published all versions of the game exce ...

'' , , 1995 , , DOS, GB, SMD, SNES , , , – , - , ''

NHL 97 ''NHL 97'' is an ice hockey video game by EA Sports. It was released on October 31, 1996 and was the successor to ''NHL 96''. It is the sixth installment of the NHL series and the first to be released on both PlayStation and Saturn. A Panasonic ...

'' , , 1996 , , DOS, PS1,

Sat The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

, SMD, SNES, Win ,

John Vanbiesbrouck John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "JVB", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. As a goaltender, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. Vanbiesbrou ...

( Florida) , , – , - , ''

NHL 98 ''NHL 98'' is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1997 and was the successor to ''NHL 97''. It was the last installment of the NHL series to be released on the SNES, Sega Genesis, or Sega Saturn. Fea ...

'' , , 1997 , , PS1, Sat, SMD, SNES, Win ,

Peter Forsberg Peter Mattias Forsberg (; born 20 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player and former assistant general manager of Modo Hockey. Nicknamed "Peter the Great" and "Foppa", Forsberg was known for his on-ice vision and physical pl ...

(

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

) , , – , - , ''

NHL 99 ''NHL 99'' is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released on September 30, 1998 and was the successor to ''NHL 98''. The game boasted great improvements to the game from ''NHL 98''. However the next two editions f ...

'' , , 1998 , , N64, PS1, Win ,

Eric Lindros Eric Bryan Lindros (; born February 28, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindros was born in London, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto. He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals pr ...

( Philadelphia) , , – , - , ''

NHL 2000 ''NHL 2000'' is an ice hockey video game developed by Electronic Arts Canada. It was released in 1999 and was the successor to '' NHL 99''. The game did not boast great improvements to the game from ''NHL 99'', nor did ''NHL 2001'' feature any id ...

'' , , 1999 , , GBC, PS1, Win ,

Chris Pronger Christopher Robert Pronger ( or ; born October 10, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and a former advisor to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Originally selected second overall by the Hartfor ...

( St. Louis) , , - , ''

NHL 2001 ''NHL 2001'' is a video game released by Electronic Arts in 2000. It is the successor to '' NHL 2000''. An add-on featuring Elitserien and SM-Liiga was released on the PC version on March 8, 2001, that added Swedish and Finnish hockey leagues an ...

'' , , 2000 , , PS1,

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

, Win ,

Owen Nolan Owen Liam Nolan (born 12 February 1972) is a Northern Irish-born, Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for t ...

( San Jose) , , - , '' Elitserien 2001'' , 2001 , Win ,

Henrik Zetterberg Henrik Zetterberg (; born 9 October 1980) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey forward. He played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL), for whom he would serve as cap ...

(

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous seaso ...

) , '' SM-Liiga 2001''

Raimo Helminen Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born 11 March 1964 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey p ...

( Ilves) , - , ''

NHL 2002 ''NHL 2002'' is a video game released by EA Sports in 2001. It is the predecessor to ''NHL 2003''. The game's cover man is Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and owner Mario Lemieux, who had just made a comeback after being retired for three and a half ...

'' , , 2001 , , GBA, PS2, Win, Xbox , Mario Lemieux ( Pittsburgh) , , – , - , ''

NHL 2003 ''NHL 2003'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It was released in 2002 as the successor to '' NHL 2002''. Jarome Iginla appears as the cover athlete and spokesperson of the game. Iginla appears in the ...

'' , , 2002 , , GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox , Jarome Iginla ( Calgary) , , - , '' NHL 2004'' , , 2003 , , GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox , , , – , - , ''

NHL 2005 ''NHL 2005'' is an ice hockey video game released in 2004, the successor to '' NHL 2004''. Features Improvements/flaws ''NHL 2005'' features ''Open Ice Control'', including moving players without the puck and also a complete World Cup mode whe ...

'' , , 2004 , , GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox ,

Markus Naslund Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobâr ...

(Vancouver) ,

Olli Jokinen Olli Veli Pekka Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for th ...

( Florida) , - , ''

NHL 06 ''NHL 06'' is an ice hockey video game that was released in 2005. The game includes the Sega Genesis version of '' NHL '94'' on the PlayStation 2 version. Reception The game received "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms according to th ...

'' , , 2005 , , GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox ,

Vincent Lecavalier Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor to hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens. Lecavalier, played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey ...

( Tampa Bay) ,

Tuomo Ruutu Tuomo Iisakki Ruutu (born 16 February 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward and current assistant coach with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. Ruutu was drafted in the first round, ninth overall, at the 200 ...

( Chicago) , - , ''

NHL 07 ''NHL 07'' is an ice hockey video game, which was released in 2006. The game improved the series' gameplay with more realistic features, such as stickhandling and a wider variety of controller schemes. As NHL 07 was released on the Xbox 360, this ...

'' , , 2006 , , X360, PS2, PSP, Win, Xbox ,

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin ( rus, Александр Михайлович Овечкин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capita ...

(

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

) , , - , '' NHL 08'' , , 2007 , ,

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

, X360, PS2, Win ,

Eric Staal Eric Craig Staal (born October 29, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey center for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Buffa ...

( Carolina) , , - , ''

NHL 09 ''NHL 09'' is the 17th video game in the NHL series released by EA Sports in 2008. This was the final NHL game to be released on the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. Online play Players have the ability to create a player to use in online pl ...

'' , , 2008 , , PS3, X360, PS2, Win ,

Dion Phaneuf Dion Phaneuf (born 10 April 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted ninth overa ...

( Calgary)Dion Phaneuf named worldwide cover athlete of EA's NHL 09
ress release

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a po ...

: Electronic Arts Inc.; 2008-06-09 ited 2010-06-15 , , - , '' 3 on 3 NHL Arcade'' , , 2009 , , PS3, X360 , None , – , - , '' NHL 10'' , , 2009 , , PS3, X360 ,

Patrick Kane Patrick Timothy Kane II (born November 19, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pic ...

( Chicago) , , - , ''

NHL 11 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 ...

'' , , 2010 , , PS3, X360 ,

Jonathan Toews Jonathan Bryan Toews ( ; born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Captain Serious", Toews was selected by the Blackhawks with the ...

( Chicago)

Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Toews the New Face of EA SPORTS NHL 11
ress release 21 June 2010 ited 21 June 2010 , , - , ''

NHL Slapshot ''NHL Slapshot'' is EA Sports' first ice hockey video game on the Wii, released in 2010. It was the first game in the ''NHL'' series since ''NHL 2005'' to receive an E rating, mainly because the game does not include fighting. Game cover Wayne G ...

'' , , 2010 , ,

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

, Wayne Gretzky ( Edmonton) , – , - , ''

NHL 12 ''NHL 12'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. The game was featured in the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Steven Stamkos was announced as the game's cover athlete on June 22, 2011, at the NHL ...

'' , , 2011 , , PS3, X360 ,

Steven Stamkos Steven Stamkos (born February 7, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stamkos was selected first overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Lightning. H ...

( Tampa Bay) , , - , ''

NHL 13 ''NHL 13'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada published by EA Sports. It is the 22nd installment of the ''NHL'' series. The game was released on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, featuring Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Gir ...

'' , , 2012 , , PS3, X360 ,

Claude Giroux Claude Giroux (; born January 12, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Pant ...

( Philadelphia) , , - , ''

NHL 14 ''NHL 14'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 23rd installment of the ''NHL'' series and was released in September 2013. However, the game was released on September 7, 2013 for subscribers o ...

'' , , 2013 , , PS3, X360 ,

Martin Brodeur Martin Pierre Brodeur (; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom h ...

( New Jersey) , , - , '' NHL 15'' , , 2014 , ,

PS4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in E ...

, XBO, PS3, X360 ,

Patrice Bergeron Patrice Bergeron-Cleary (born July 24, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bergeron played junior hockey with the Acadie–Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major ...

(

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

) , , - , ''

NHL 16 ''NHL 16'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 25th installment of the ''NHL'' series and was released on September 15, 2015 in North America and September 17 and 18 in Europe, Aust ...

'' , , 2015 , , PS4, XBO ,

( Chicago) ,

Nino Niederreiter Nino Niederreiter (born 8 September 1992) is a Swiss professional ice hockey winger for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, making him th ...

(

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

) , - , ''NHL: Legacy Edition'' , , 2015 , , PS3, X360 , None ( Stanley Cup pictured instead) , – , - , ''

NHL 17 ''NHL 17'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 26th installment in the ''NHL'' game series and was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in September 2016. The develo ...

'' , , 2016 , , PS4, XBO ,

Vladimir Tarasenko Vladimir Andreyevich Tarasenko (russian: Влади́мир Андре́евич Тарасе́нко; born 13 December 1991) is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hock ...

( St. Louis) ,

, - , ''

NHL 18 ''NHL 18'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 15, 2017. It is the 27th installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and features Edmo ...

'' , 2017 , PS4, XBO ,

Connor McDavid Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers selected him first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. McDavid spen ...

( Edmonton) , {{unbulleted list, {{Ref, SUI, SUI

Roman Josi Roman Josi (born 1 June 1990) is a Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman and captain of the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Josi was drafted 38th overall by the Predators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. In 2019–20, ...

( Nashville) (The Josi cover was officially released as a downloadable cover by EA Sports, but the McDavid cover was sold at retail in Switzerland) , - , ''

NHL 19 ''NHL 19'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It was released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 14, 2018. It is the 28th installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and features N ...

'' , , 2018 , , PS4, XBO ,

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, a ...

( Nashville) , {{unbulleted list, {{Ref, FIN, FIN

Patrik Laine Patrik Laine (; born 19 April 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. Laine formerly played in his native Finland with Tappara in the Finnish Liiga befor ...

( Winnipeg){{cite web , url=https://www.gamereactor.se/nyheter/641323/William+Nylander+pryder+NHL+19omslaget+i+Sverige/?sid=eab9ba16335d7ba7833219c7f1319287 , title=William Nylander pryder NHL 19-omslaget i Sverige , date=2 August 2018 , website=Gamereactor , access-date=3 August 2018 , language=sv
{{Ref, SWE, SWE

William Nylander William Andrew Michael Junior Nylander Altelius (born 1 May 1996) is a Canadian-born Swedish professional ice hockey right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nylander was selected by the Maple Leafs in the ...

( Toronto) , - , ''

NHL 20 ''NHL 20'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It was released globally on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on September 13, 2019. It is the 29th installment in the NHL video game series and f ...

'' , , 2019 , , PS4, XBO ,

Auston Matthews Auston Taylour Matthews (born September 17, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born in San Ramon, California, Matthews and his family moved ...

( Toronto) , unbulleted list, {{Ref, FIN, FIN

( Winnipeg)
{{Ref, SWE, SWE

Elias Pettersson Elias Fredrik Pettersson (born 12 November 1998) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pettersson was selected fifth overall by the Canucks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Nickname ...

( Vancouver) , - , ''

NHL 21 ''NHL 21'' is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It is the 30th installment in the ''NHL'' game series and was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One consoles in October 2 ...

'' , , 2020 , , PS4, XBO ,

(

) , – , - , '' NHL 22'' , 2021 , PS4, XBO,

PS5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Am ...

, XBS ,

( Toronto) , – , - , ''

NHL 23 NHL 23 is an ice hockey simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. It is the 32nd installment in the ''NHL'' video game series and was released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series ...

'' , 2022 , PS4, XBO,

, XBS ,

Trevor Zegras Trevor Zegras ( ; born March 20, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey center for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Ducks, ninth overall, in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Zegras played college hock ...

( Anaheim) and

Sarah Nurse Sarah Nurse (born January 4, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team. She made her debut with the national team at the 2015 4 Nations Cup. In 2018, she represented Canada at the 2018 ...

( Canada) , – {{smalldiv, 1= : {{Note, †, †as ''NHL Hockey'' : {{Note, ‡, ‡

Joe Thornton Joseph Eric Thornton (born July 2, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He has previously played for the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers of th ...

was originally chosen, but EA switched to

Dany Heatley Daniel "Dany" James Heatley (born January 21, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. Originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National ...

after Thornton was accused of assaulting two police officers. Thornton's cover was never produced. After the 2003–04 season had begun, Heatley was involved in a car crash that killed teammate Dan Snyder, prompting EA to switch covers to one featuring

Joe Sakic Joseph Steven Sakic (; born July 7, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played his entire 21-year National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Quebec Nordiques/ Colorado Avalanche franchise. Named captain ...

. : {{Note, ‡, ‡, ‡

was originally slated to share the cover with teammate

, however, following sexual assault claims made against Kane, he was dropped from the cover.{{cite web , author=Mike Cole , work=

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red S ...

, title=EA Sports Pulls Patrick Kane From 'NHL 16' Cover Amid Reported Rape Investigation , url=http://nesn.com/2015/08/ea-sports-pulls-patrick-kane-from-nhl-16-cover-amid-reported-rape-investigation/ , date=2015-08-12 , accessdate=2015-08-15 : {{Note, EU, EUin Europe; {{Note, DEN, DENin {{flag, Denmark, size=15px; {{Note, FIN, FINin {{flag, Finland, size=15px; {{Note, RUS, RUSin {{flag, Russia, size=15px; {{Note, SWE, SWEin {{flag, Sweden, size=15px; {{Note, SUI, SUI in {{flag, Switzerland, size=13px; {{Note, CZE, CZEin {{flag, Czech Republic, size=15px

Leagues

In addition to the NHL itself, the different installments of the game include development leagues like the American Hockey League and

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

, European national leagues from Russia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Czech Republic, and the European

Champions Hockey League The Champions Hockey League is a European first-level ice hockey tournament. Launched in the 2014–15 season by 26 clubs, 6 leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the tournament features top teams across Europe. Backgrou ...

Game covers

As is traditional with EA Sports, the NHL series boxes feature live action photos instead of drawings. As it lacked the NHLPA license, the early titles staged photos without real players. ''NHLPA Hockey 93'', on the other hand, had the rights to use player images, but not of the teams. On this cover, the main action photo features the New York Rangers'

Randy Moller Randall W. Moller (born August 23, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted in the first round, eleventh overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1981 National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft. The majority of his ca ...

checking the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wel ...

' Rod Brind'Amour while Rangers goaltender Mike Richter makes a save (in this photo there is the logo of the New York Rangers located on the bottom right of the goaltender's pants). This photo is surrounded by eight small portraits of players (

Steve Yzerman Stephen Gregory Yzerman (; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing ...

Andy Moog Donald Andrew Moog (; born February 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Moog played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and also for the ...

Pat LaFontaine Patrick Michael LaFontaine (born February 22, 1965) is an American former ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and spent his entire playing career with the league's New York State-based teams. LaFontaine played for ...

Brian Leetch Brian Joseph Leetch (born March 3, 1968) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins. He has been called one of the t ...

, Ray Bourque,

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender and executive, who serves as the head coach for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, Roy was named o ...

Jeremy Roenick Jeremy Shaffer Roenick ( ; born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chi ...

, and

Rick Tocchet Richard Tocchet (; born April 9, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Playing as a right winger, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los A ...

). This changed with ''NHL 94'', which featured a goal situation for

Tomas Sandstrom Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

( Los Angeles Kings) against

( Boston Bruins). ''NHL 95'' featured an in-goal camera during a goal scored by

Alexei Kovalev Alexei Vyacheslavovich Kovalev ( rus, Алексей Вячеславович Ковалёв, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ kəvɐˈlʲɵf; born February 24, 1973) is a Russian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former pr ...

of the New York Rangers during the

1994 Stanley Cup Finals The 1994 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers and ...

against

Kirk McLean Kirk Alan McLean (born June 26, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. ...

of the Vancouver Canucks. ''NHL 96'' featured New Jersey's

Scott Stevens Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jers ...

and Detroit's

. More recently,

was featured on the cover of ''NHL 13'' and

was on the cover of ''

''. On June 24, 2014, EA Sports announced at the 2014 NHL Awards in Las Vegas that

of the Boston Bruins would be the official cover athlete for '' NHL 15''. In 2015, during the NHL awards, it was announced that the cover of ''

'' would feature

and

carrying the Stanley Cup together. However, on August 12, 2015, EA announced that Kane would not be appearing on the cover or participating in any promotional activities for the game in light of a criminal investigation he was involved in. Instead, the cover featured Toews alone. At the 2016 NHL Awards, it was announced that

of the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

was to appear on the cover of ''

''. On June 21, 2017, during the 2017 NHL Awards, EA announced that

of the Edmonton Oilers would be the cover athlete on NHL 18. Until ''NHL 21'', regional covers were also produced featuring NHL players from that region.

List of Cover Stars

{, class="wikitable" , +Standard Edition Cover Athlete !Game !Player !Team , - , ''

'' , Glenn Healy , Los Angeles Kings , - , rowspan="3" , ''

'' , Rod Brind'Amour ,

, - , Mike Richter , New York Rangers , - ,

, New York Rangers , - , rowspan="2" , '' NHL '94'' ,

Tomas Sandström Tomas Sandström (born September 4, 1964) is a Finnish-born Swedish former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1984 to 1999. Born in Finland, Sandström grew up in Fagersta, Sweden. A skille ...

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'' ,

, New Jersey Devils , - ,

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'' ,

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home game ...

, - , ''

'' ,

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play the ...

, - , ''

'' ,

, - , ''

'' ,

, - , ''

'' ,

, San Jose Sharks , - , ''

'' , Mario Lemieux ,

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have play ...

, - , ''

'' , Jarome Iginla , Calgary Flames , - , rowspan="2" , '' NHL 2004'' ,

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

, - ,

, - , ''

'' ,

, Vancouver Canucks , - , ''

'' ,

, Tampa Bay Lightning , - , ''

'' ,

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

, - , '' NHL 08'' ,

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

, - , ''

'' ,

, Calgary Flames , - , '' NHL 10'' ,

, Chicago Blackhawks , - , ''

'' ,

, Chicago Blackhawks , - , ''

'' ,

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'' ,

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, - , '' NHL 22'' ,

, Toronto Maple Leafs , - , ''

'' ,

AND

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Divis ...

AND Canadian women's national ice hockey team

Commentary

In ''NHLPA '93'' and ''NHL '94'', Emmy award-winning sportscaster Ron Barr gives a pre-game scouting report prior to each game. In the Genesis version of NHL 95, KNBR radio sportscaster John Shrader replaced Ron Barr in that duty. Live play-by-play commentary was introduced in the PC version of ''NHL 97''.

Jim Hughson Jim Hughson (born October 9, 1956) is a retired Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of the National Hockey League. He was the lead play-by-play commentator for the '' NHL on Sportsnet'' from 2014 to 2021 and '' Hockey Night i ...

, former play-by-play man for CBC's '' Hockey Night in Canada'' and also one of Canada's best-known hockey announcers, provided the play-by-play for much of the series. The last games in which he is one of the announcers are the PC and PS2 versions of NHL 09.

Bill Clement William H. Clement (born December 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who became an author, speaker, actor, entrepreneur, and hockey broadcaster. Clement played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), and was ...

was the sole commentator in the Nintendo 64 version of ''NHL 99''.

Gary Thorne Gary F. Thorne (born June 9, 1948) is an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for Baltimore Orioles games on MASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked for ESPN and ABC, including National Hockey League, Major Leagu ...

provided the play-by-play commentary in all

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

and PlayStation 3 versions from ''NHL 07'' through ''NHL 14''.

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

commentator Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk provided the play-by-play and color commentary on all platforms, with their first appearance together being in ''NHL 15'' and last in ''NHL 19''. James Cybulski is the current play-by-play commentator, starting with ''NHL 20''. ''NHL 15'' was also the first game to introduce an ice level analyst, with TSN analyst

Ray Ferraro Raymond Vincent Ferraro (born August 23, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently broadcaster for ESPN/ ABC and formerly of TSN. He played for 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whaler ...

appearing in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game.

Color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

has been provided by

Daryl Reaugh Daryl Kevin "Razor" Reaugh (pronounced "Ray") (born February 13, 1965) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender and now a broadcaster for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL), ''NHL on NBC'' and ''Hockey Night in Canada''. H ...

(NHL 98–99),

(NHL 2000–2001, and NHL 07–14 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), Don Taylor (NHL 2002–2003),

Craig Simpson Craig Andrew Simpson (born February 15, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. He is currently a bro ...

(NHL 2004–09), Eddie Olczyk (NHL 15–19). Ferraro made the jump from ice-level analyst to full color commentator in ''NHL 20'' (NHL 20–present). {, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;" , +Commentary Team ! rowspan="1" scope="col" , Games ! rowspan="1" scope="col" , Commentary Team , - ! scope="row" ,

, - ! scope="row" ,

and

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, - ! scope="row" ,

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and

, - ! scope="row" , NHL 08 , - ! scope="row" ,

, - ! scope="row" , NHL 10 , rowspan="6" ,

, - ! scope="row" ,

, - ! scope="row" , NHL 15 , rowspan="6" , Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk , - ! scope="row" , NHL: Legacy Edition , - ! scope="row" ,

, - ! scope="row" ,

, rowspan="4" , James Cybulski,

, - ! scope="row" ,

, - ! scope="row" , NHL 22 , - ! scope="row" ,

Controversy

{{Original research section, date=April 2022 One idea that has been widely discussed over many years within the fan community is a purported automatic built-in gameplay mechanism called ”ice tilt”, which modifies skaters' and/or goalies' and/or the referee's penalty-decision-making behavior irrationally to favor a worse player, a player on a losing streak or a player who is down by multiple goals. EA Sports has openly denied the existence of any such mechanism, instead saying that winning is a product of skill and the quality of the team's roster. However, EA once published a document about a feature called "Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment", which was interpreted by some as confirming the existence of ice tilt.https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/25/9b/fc/c885b6d84e460f/US20170259177A1.pdf {{Bare URL PDF, date=March 2022

Soundtracks

''NHL 99'' was the first game in the series to feature fully licensed music from David Bowie for the intro video. Since then, each game has had soundtracks of licensed music known as EA Sports Trax, with selections of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

, and rock music. Electronic and hip hop music was later added to the mix in later games. '' NHL 15'' and ''

'' on

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and Xbox One use an original orchestral score instead for the menus, while the soundtrack continues playing in the arenas. ''

'' returned to the traditional EA Trax feature and also allowed the option to switch back to the original score from ''NHL 15''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* {{Official website * {{moby game, id=-group/ea-sports-nhl-series, name=''NHL'' series {{NHL series {{Electronic Arts {{NHL topics {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhl Series Electronic Arts franchises Electronic Arts games Video games developed in Canada EA Sports games Video game franchises introduced in 1991 Ice hockey video games Video games developed in the United States

Installments

Leagues

Game covers

List of Cover Stars

Commentary

Controversy

Soundtracks

See also

References

External links