EA Sports Releases NHL 10 Roster Update

Today EA Canada dished the first of many roster updates to its critically hailed hockey game. For hardcore fans the first update is crucial, as it places players on correct lines, finalizes the opening day rosters for each team, and adds rookies to the NHL and AHL. We spoke with NHL producer Andy Agostini about the first batch of changes.

While NFL and NBA games almost always ship with the rookie classes included, the NHL does not. Part of that is obviously because many of the draftees are still kids who will spend several years in the juniors, but in the past few years there have been many great players like Crosby and Ovechkin who catapult straight onto the first lines. New York Islanders center and number one overall pick John Tavares is the latest player to go missing. Why aren’t these guys normally included in the retail version of the game?
 



Unlike the NFL and NBA, the rules for the NHL are different. A player must step onto the ice during a regular season NHL game to be included in the licensing agreement and thus be able to be put into our rosters.

With the season starting in October we have to wait till the player plays and this is why they appear in the roster update instead of on the disc when we ship our game. 



Are there workarounds you are looking at with the NHL and NHLPA that may be addressed in the near future as it pertains to NHL and AHL rosters?



The NHLPA has always had these rules and we, as a licensee, must abide by them. This being said, we work with the NHLPA closely to make sure we get everybody that we can into our roster updates as soon as we are allowed.



How many updates are included in this first roster patch?



The first roster update is the biggest one of the year. We have added any players who played their first NHL game in the first 5 days of the season as well as making all roster moves when it comes to late player signings and players who have made the NHL’s opening day rosters.

 Some of the new players in the game are John Tavares (New York Islanders),

 Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche), 

James Van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia Flyers), 

Evander Kane (Atlanta Thrashers), 

Sergei Shirokov (Vancouver Canucks), 

Dmitri Kulikov (Florida Panthers), 

Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
, 
and Matt Gilroy (New York Rangers). 

There were 19 players added to NHL rosters this update.




What are the big moves people will be the most excited about?



I think just the addition of the rookies to the NHL rosters will be a big thing for our users.  We also added some of the late additions to teams from training camp such as Dominic Moore signing with Florida and Manny Malholtra signing with San Jose. Not superstars but they are the depth that helps teams become better.



Are there players you wanted to add that didn’t make the cut? 



As a Vancouver Canucks fan I wanted to add Cody Hodgson, but the Canucks sent him back to Junior and he didn’t appear in an NHL regular season game. We will have to wait till next year to see whether he plays in the NHL or in the AHL. He will be in our game next season regardless, as he is 20 and cannot be sent back to the Juniors.

 


How often do you plan to offer roster updates in the future?



We are planning on doing roster updates bi-weekly. These updates will include injured players being scratches when injured so our online rosters will more closely resemble the teams as of the time of the update.