Let me preface this by stating: I am not an ice hockey guru or expert in any sort. I can’t skate. So that deletes like 99.9% of what happens on the ice. However, I am a fan of the game. Never played it (except Floor Hockey), but grew to appreciate it through what other than the blessed vessel of a video game system. From NHL 94, to the NHL Faceoff series, and back to the EA Sports series, the interested continued to grow (ala the Grinch’s heart that day). Learning and absolving the tactic and strategy to the game, I can attribute to hours of studying via video games. Bless you angelic developers and producers 🙏. The ingenuity to create a simulation style hockey game that you can play and also learn the game, is some sort of evidence that video games can be utilized as educational tools 🤙!

In regard to the sport of ice hockey, my interest will peek and I’ll watch and dabble into the regular season and playoffs. But, I’m all in when it comes to Franchise/GM Mode in the EA Sports NHL series (s/o consistent plug). I believe the series has the most in-depth experience dealing with the unique salary cap, 1/2-way contracts, Fog of War (blind scouting), stadium upkeep, and of course, EXPANSION MODE! Love me some expansion mode, and the 82 game grind from Expansion Draft up! The Seattle Reign, Stanley Cup champs baybay. Despite learning the tactics and strategies via practice and tutorials, getting sage advice from one of Jimmy Thornton’s hockey guru’s, it becomes easier to understand the game and appreciate it more. Going to the Hockey Hall of Fame was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. Taking in all the history and culture of the sport was intoxicating. If you haven’t been, bucket list it. Also, do it big in Toronto, dope city!

Squirrel.

Just as with NBA 2K, EA hooked players up with NHL Alumni teams for their respective 30/31 NHL teams (Las Vegas does not have an alumni team since their inception was within the last two years), so that players can relive the yesteryear of some of the great players to wear the sweater of their favorite hockey club. Unfortunately, it’s an Alumni team and not an All-Time team (kind of a watered down GToAT). Instead of having all the teams with their studded out players, we get, as per resident guru has stated, “a nerfed alumni team to make it fair”. For example, Mark Howe should be a 92 instead of an 88, since he’s in the HOF. There’s room for great debate in regard to this topic.

The All-Time teams available in the game are a group of 4: All-Time All-Stars, East, West, and Grit. Due to lack of numbers and parity reasons in regard to it being an Alumni simulation, they were left off. However, there can be a sim for them within the near future in some capacity. Some players within the Alumni teams overlap due to playing for multiple franchises and relocation of franchises to modern day teams. There will be many doppelgängers, i.e. three Wayne Gretzky’s (STL, LAK, NYR); 3x the GOAT! We’ll take a look at the End of Season Power Rankings, Season Award Winners, and of course Alumni-Stanley Cup Champions.

So without any further ado, here is an overview of our sim for NHL 20 Alumni Season with team additions, subtractions, sim settings and results:

The Setup

Teams That Missed the Cut:
Minnesota* All-Time (2000 expansion); Columbus* All-Time(former Hartford Whalers) ; Vegas Golden Knights**
*Denotes rating too low and can be replaced by pre relocation team **Too recent of a franchise to attribute an Alumni team

Replaced by: Hartford Whalers (current Carolina Hurricanes) and Quebec nordiques (current Colorado Avalanche), Minnesota North Stars (current Dallas Stars)

Players Added: Eric Lindros-Flyers; Bobby Hull-Blackhawks (using NHL Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) stats from previous versions for both)
*missing probably due to lack of contract for likeness representation. if we’re missing any All-Time Players let us know so that we can add them for future Sims!

Teams Better Than Their Own Alumni:
Arizona, Vancouver, Minnesota, Nashville, Buffalo, Florida, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Carolina
Despite the betterment of talent with the current roster, this is a chance for the OGs to get some run in today’s NHL. Kind of like a swan song, but kinda close to a rec league “glory days” season due to the discrepancy in overall rating.

Settings. The sim consists of regulation style games without trades, free agency additions and with injuries on. Lineups and strategies remain the same, with coaches allowed to move their best lines for that the system has the rest of the alumni players.

End of Season Power Rankings

Playoff Tree

End of Season Team Awards

End of Season Individual Awards

Summary

The overall experience was a bit different than the NBA 2K simulation. Having Alumni teams over All-Time made provided a stark difference in overall experience. It was awesome to see some of the top teams in history remain at the top, while watching others falter like in the other sim. It was also pretty dope seeing “The Great One” ascend to his virtual throne in multiple categories and even battling himself to reign supremacy of the league. Hopefully in future incarnations of the game, we will see the All-Time teams for their respective franchises. Overall, dope simulation and it looks like the St. Louis Blues are a GToAT in this virtual realm.

h/t @hausofwolf84 for sim

Cover photo: via EA Sports NHL 20