In the past few years, lockouts and disagreements have been common in the Sport World. Not so long ago the referees for the NFL concluded their talks, before that the NBA had a lock out that forced several games to be canceled. This year, it’s the NHL. So far, the first couple of weeks have been canceled, but are set to resume November 2nd. While talks are still taking place, and many are saying won’t be concluded before the end of the promised two weeks, many are wondering what are going to become of the 2012-2013 NHL Season.
Lucky for us gaming fans, that still enjoy a good hockey game on the side, EA Sports has the answer. Using real-time data, they’re using NHL 13 to simulate the season until the real games start, if they don’t continue to simulate the games just for fun. This is interesting because, like other EA Sports’ games, NHL 13 receives constant real-time data and updates that reflect the NHL pro teams and their rosters.
The start of the season has already been postponed, however, there are rumors going around that, despite the new agreement reached by the NHL committee, that the talks may take longer than expected. This is mixed news, considering the stats simmed by EA aren’t exactly thrilling. The first three weeks have already been simulated and can be viewed at easports.com/nhl. Yet, that said, the scores and points given seem to be a little less than accurate.
As a hockey fan myself (Go Red Wings!), I’m not exactly impressed by the simulations. It seems that the fans who have commented on the simulated articles aren’t impressed either. Not only to the points seem off, but some teams seem very heavily favored. The New York Islanders, the Montreal Canadiens, the St, Louis Blues, even the Carolina Hurricanes are doing a lot better than they normally would. The win-tie-loss scores seem like they could be believable, however, the scores, and the points that EA are reporting are anything but conceivable!
I’m not saying the scores are outlandish, too high or low, I’m saying they don’t make sense for the teams playing. I’m not the only one to think this. Many fans that are following the simulation are not only disappointed with the simulations, the scores, the poor upkeep of the rosters, but the reporting as well. I may be a Rangers fan, but it does seem like they’re doing unusually poorly, and the Vancouver Canucks are leading their division! Of course, the developers would like the Cunucks to do well, considering EA Sports Canada is located in Vancouver!
One could argue the simulations are impossible to manipulate, however, that doesn’t completely snuff out the doubts and cries of favoritism. As the simulations continue, only time will tell if these claims are legit, or just sour grapes. The one thing that we can all agree, is it’s better than not watching hockey. One could complain that without the smell of Little Ceaser’s pizza and blood on the ice, it’s not really worth it, but when there’s no games, we start itching for something to replace it… Even if it’s horrible and unreasonable simulations.
Sources: g4tv.com, Week 1 Sim, Week 2 Sim, Week 3 Sim
