NHL 07

So I wandered down to my local gaming store, where a good friend works. I have an account, store credit, and games to trade in to boot. I am desperately awaiting FIFA 07, but have a few more days to wait until the Holy Mecca of XBOX 360 games(debateable I know) comes out. With store credit in mind, I decide to buy a used game with which I can return and get a 100% refund. The only game on the Shelf I happened to be a little bit interested in was NHL 07.

Looking at the cover took me back to the old days, me and Matt would fire up the Super Nintendo, yell at the screen (hasn't changed much from today, sans SNES), and even though we would never watch Hockey, it was pretty cool to play. This was the push over the edge I needed, I grabbed the game, got it paid for, and left.

Something troubled me right away with this game when I went to select a team. I began going through the different cities, seeing what the rankings were.
Overall here is how they laid out(apologize if I missed any):
79- Washington Capitals
81- St. Louis Blues
82- Atlanta Thrashers/New York Islanders/ Pittsburgh Penguins/ San Jose Sharks
83- Chicago Blackhawks/Columbus Blue Jackets/Minnesota Wild/ Nashville Predators/ New York Rangers/ Ottowa Senators/ Toronto Maple Leafs
84- Carolina Hurricanes/ Edmonton Oilers/ New Jersey Devils/ Philadelphia Flyers/ Phoenix Coyotes/ Tampa Bay Lightning/ Vancouvers Canucks
85- Anaheim Ducks/ Buffalo Sabres/ Colorado Avalanche/ Florida Panthers/ L.A. Kings/ Montreal Canadiens
86- Boston Bruins/ Calgary Flames/ Dallas Stars/ Detroit Red Wings

All of these teams, throughout the entire NHL, range from 79 to 86. That is an average of somewhere around 83. How can this be? Is the NHL really this narrow? Are all the teams really this even?

Onto the gameplay, but I will be breif. Nowadays the Graphics are getting alot better, and it does look great. But with better graphics, people feel the gameplay should be different/improved/better. This game is frustrating.

The old days of D-pad are gone. you control the player entirely on 2 sticks. After a few hours with it, I have decided that pushing a button to take shots and a D-pad to move players was alot more enjoyable. You became so worried about taking the right shot at the right time, with the right amount of touch on it, and you stop enjoying the game.

FIFA 07 couldn't come fast enough.