There were a lot of other goalie options out there, so long as you could get the computer GM to bite. Apparently, developers thought about as highly of Hextall as Islanders fans did, because he’s only rated 53 overall (back-up McLennan was 45).
Nhl 19 rosters upgrade#
The first place people would look to upgrade would be in goal, where the Islanders had Ron Hextall and Jaime McLennan. Confused as to who David Maley was? (seriously, who is David Maley?) Then, uh, trade him to Los Angeles for Doug Houda (Doug Houda played for the Kings?). Need a depth center? Trade for Mike Ricci or Dave Gagner. Want to upgrade the defense? Trade some guys for Al Iafrate or Calle Johansson. With a few careful trades, that already okay 1994-95 roster could become much better.
You’d have to wait until NHL 2000 on the PlayStation or N64 to find a roster that good for this franchise. While slightly inferior to the NHL ‘94 line-up, ratings-wise, this would be one of the best Islanders teams of the 16-Bit era. They had Vladimir Malakhov and Darius Kasparaitis as their top defensive pairing and had a serviceable if unspectacular complement of depth players. The Islanders roster in that game was pretty good already, led by a top line of Pierre Turgeon, Steve Thomas and Benoit Hogue. He could be a tough nut to crack, but if the players’ overall ratings were in the same ballpark you could pull off some deals that, in the real world, never would have happened in a million years:įor an Islanders fan, this made NHL ‘95 the best possible iteration of the best sports video game series. Of course, the rub was that you had to get past that unwavering, unemotional rival GM seen above. Or, better still, keep bad trades your team actually made from ever happening.
Finally, you could actually attempt those dream scenario trades you and your friends always kicked around and stack one team with some of the best players from around the NHL. The Genesis version of NHL ‘95 was the first console hockey game (or, at least, the first I played) to allow you to create, sign, release or trade players between teams. His replacement, John Schrader handled the intro duties very ably, though.īut NHL ‘95 had one thing that really blew my mind. The face of EA Sports through the first three games - Ron Barr - was also gone. They did add drop passes and pump fakes, which are super cool if you can make them work. Yeah, EA removed the fighting from the game, but to be honest, I didn’t miss it. Instead of just single games or playoff tournaments, for the first time ever, players could simulate an entire 84-game NHL season, complete with compiled stats and end of season awards. The graphics were smoothed out, but still retained their original, classic charm ( NHL 96 would be the more radical departure). NHL ‘95 boasted a few upgrades to the 1994 version. And that’s because of the most Islanders reason of all. While NHL 94 is often considered the pinnacle of the series, even today, my personal favorite was and continues to be its successor. It had real NHL teams (but not NHL players yet) playing in a fast style that more closely mimicked the sport than Atari’s Ice Hockey or NES games like Ice Hockey or even the legendary Blades of Steel did. Even the one that started it all, NHL Hockey for the Sega Genesis, was light years beyond the games of the previous generation.
Nhl 19 rosters series#
Like most hockey fans, I’ve spent a lot of time playing EA Sports’ NHL series dating back to the 16-Bit era. It’s Video Game Week at SB Nation and, like Marvel Week before it, the idea lets me combine the Islanders with another ostensibly fun but also often frustrating or disappointing pastime of mine.