Yes, yes it is. That is a broken hockey stick on the ice in NHL 11.
The first screenshot from this fall’s upcoming iteration of the critically-acclaimed and highly popular hockey series was released via EA Sports’ NHL Facebook page yesterday and was accompanied by the caption, “All new real-time physics engine in NHL 11.”
While the implication of the caption is that we should be wowed by the way in Chris Kunitz is getting put into orbit, I’m impressed by the broken stick. Finally, we can look forward to the difficulty of defending without a stick.
Very little else can be garnered from the screenshot, but any news from the NHL team is a positive in my mind. NHL 10 won our Sports Game of the Year Award and was, quite simply, an excellent, accurate simulation of my favorite sport in the entire world.
In addition to the screenshot, reports indicate that NHL 11 will feature the Canadian Hockey League. So that means players will be able to compete in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, The Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League of Canada’s Major Junior Hockey League. Could that also mean that in Be A Pro mode you can start as a Junior player and make your way up into the pro’s, earning a top draft pick placement by playing through a few seasons rather than through one game? I hope so.
It would be great if the NHL team was also able to gain NCAA approval to include US college hockey teams. Because good God I’d love to play for the University of Vermont and tear up Hockey East before making a trip up to Montreal to play for my beloved Habs. A man can dream, right?
