My ESPN NHL Wishlist
Must Fix
Ref Collsion:When the puck comes near the ref and he hops on the boards to get out off the way the puck jumps in the air, also some times you loss the puck when you are clearly far enough away
Goalie Stats: The goalies yies are never right during the in-game stats half the time they have more ties then games played
Delayed Penalty:If the ref hits the puck during a delayed penalty they blow the wistle, which its a rule an shouldn't happen
Fighting: See Fighting Section at Bottom
Gotta Love The Hockey Mullet:It's just not right to see players like darrien hatcher with out his buetiful mullet and guys like mike ricci with his nasty long black hair to macth his missing tooth
Coaches on the Bench:I like that they have the head coach on the bench behined the players but they need to have an assistant to and a trainer on each end to hand the players there sticks if they break.
Goalie in Zone:Not all the time but some of the time i have noticed that they call the goalie by the other goalies name like the face of will be down in my end as the wings with hasek and they will the face off is to the right of hackett if i was playing the flyers i also think sometimes they say its to the wrong side.
Drop the Puck:After fights and penalties the puck gets droped in some pretty wierd places like inside the center circle but not in the middle or if there is a penalty they drop the puck where is was touched if it was out of the zone.
Wheres my Center:only a couple of times has this happened but when theres a face of in my zone the center would be hanging out by the blue randomly trying to take the draw
Franchise
Cpu Trades:The Computer never seems to make trades just the occasinally free agent signing, i would also like some way to see these trade, if you have ever played world series baseball 2k3 i like there because you can see trades, streaks, injuries, milestones, shutouts, suspenions if you add it to the game, there should also be a thing at the bottom like on sports center that scrolls across and stats all the score from that day and all the trade and call-ups from the minors.
Trading Block:This is the one thing that all games need to start, if i am trying to cut salary or just want to move a player i should be able to put him out on the trade block and over the course of a week i should start to get some offers from him.
Injuries: They happen way to much but some of the injures that they say a guy has are very unrealitic in there come back time like a torn bicep isnt something your out for 3-4 weeks with.
Playoff Injuries: In the playoffs a guy should be able to come back about 2-4 weeks early becuase he wants to play, this would eliminate my best player being out with a day to day injurie but still allow a play that is really hurt to come back if you keep on winning. A player should also be able to play hurt coming back maybe a week early but this would put him at greater risk of furter injury.
Goalies get Tired: I like in EA's game that they tell you when a goalie is tired and has played to many games in a row, you can still play him but he might not be as good with about 30% lower speed and quickness and awarness etc. however this should get turned off in the playoff becuase most goalies play the whole way through
Graphics
Nets:the nets around the end boards
Refs:to make the game more realistic you need all 4 refs on the ice but they need to be smarter then the one ref that is out there now and not get in the way so much
Goalie Masks: It would be nice to see the real goalie masks and for guys like cujo and eddie the eagle who were the same mask from team to team just a different coler you should be able to change that manually with like a paint option.
Goalie Pads: going along with the paint option from above i would also like to be able to paint the goalies pads the way i would like. its fine to have the 4 different option but it would be cool to be able to paint them in different main areas, that way i could give Marc-Adrea Flury his all yellow pads
dosnt this thing have a door:the benchs have doors and most players use them when coming off the ice, your tired why not be lazy, this is something that would just and to the overall realness of the game along with the back-up goalie sitting at the far end opening the door when players come in.
Penalties
Penalty Box: When a guy slams the penalty box door and slams his stick and gloves a little "click" when the door shuts just dosnt cut it
Obstruction: The Game dosnt call enough of these types of penalties and when its does they need to call it obstruction holding not just holding
Major Penalties: Need to have 5 minute major for boarding
High Sticking: Its one of the basic penalties in hockey but its not in the game, need to make sure it isnt something that happens all the time however
Slashing: Another Basic penalty that i dont think is in the game, make it something the computer does time to time when they try and hook a player or slow him down
To Many Men: If the puck gets mixed up over by the bunch on a change it should happen but not to often about and often glass breaks maybe a little more
Goaltender Interference: They call the penatly but they just call it a charge not goaltender interference
10 Min and Game Misconducts: for things like 3 fights in one game and have a cut scene of a player jawing with the ref that will get him a ten minute midsonduct
Sounds
Delayed Reaction:Often when a goal is scored the crowd reaction is very delayed, the crowd knows when a goal is scored.
Scoring Chance:The Crowd needs to be more involved when there is a good scoring chance for the home team with a great save made or when the home team is on the penalty kill and they clear the zone i wanna hear the crowd get there golf clap on
Rally the Troops:Another thing that would just ad to the overall atmosphere of the coolest game on earth would be when your down late in the game and your goalies playing well be your not scoring i want to hear him slamming his stick on the ice trying to rally the troops for that game tying or game winning goal.
Player Intro:This should be the very first thing you see the visiting team on the ice skating in there circles, strecthing, the goalie scraping the ice in front of the net and then have a team specific song start to play as the annoncer annonceas the starters for the home team
All little more Enthusiasm:When the home team scores the pa annoncer needs to be a little more enthusiastic he should be excited this is his team same with the three star selection if the player is a star at home they gotta have a little flair so the crowd can cheer not that monatone vocie that the other team should get, that everyone currently gets
Gameplay
Broken Stick:In every game you watch you see at least five sticks that brake when a play goes for a slap shot, This is becuase they get hit on block shots for example and become weak and when the player goes to take that next shot they snap the end of so this has to be a part of the game now, if a player snap a stick you should be able to kick pass if he does get control or switch off that player and he can go to the bench or get one on the fly from the trainer like i mentioned above.
Hold on to your Eequipment:Just as frequent as players breaking there stick they ofton lose there stick if knocked down or they will lose a glove and if they get hit hard enough they will lose there helmet, if a player loses a glove or his stick you should be able to hit a buttom when you stake over them to pick them up not the helmet however they usally wait till a stopage in play for that.
Fighting
Pick Your Fight:One of the few things that i do like in EA's 2004 version of this grand game is the fact that you can pick when you want to fight, of corse im not going to fight when im down 2-1 with 2:30 to go in the 3rd and Dominik Hasek is on the or side net flat on his back and all i have to do is tap shoot and i tie it up you stupid game(very angry just happened)
Fighting it-self sucks in this game and need to be completly redone, I like the concept that EA has with the high and low and the blocking but theres is a little confusing, try something with a punch high (b) and punch low (a) with the black and white buttons used to try and grab the other player to disable there ability to hit you and the the use a high (y) and low (x) block the more or less just turn your head or body to shield you from getting beat on and the left and right triggers to try and shake loose from your oppenents grip do you can get back to swinging those haymakers. the d-pad or thumb stick could also be used to control the type of punch you want with down as a body shot up as a shot to the head left as a the deadly upper cut to the chin that uselly knocks of the helmet so you dont brake your hand and right being the full or flurry to the head, becuase we all love to see to big guys standing toe-to-toe with won another taking shoots to the head till one guys guts tired and they just hold on to each other to stay standing till te refs break it up.
The Sounds of a Fight:To make the fights more realistic they need to mic up some of the better known fighters around the league and record what it sounds like when they lay that haymaker to the other guys face
The Sound of Victory:When a fight gets broke up the other players just dont stand around they tap there sticks on the ice, or the boards if there not on the ice at the time, in apprication of there tough guy do what he does best.
