Archive for September, 2006

24
Sep

NHL 07 - Review

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Misc

    So we were promised a skill stick, a new way to control the player (stick movements, toe drags, power moves). New player movements, unbelievable goalie animations on saves and some realistic game play. Well, none of those happened, at least not on the PC. I don’t have an XBOX 360 to test the game on either. Here is my problem, when did the PC become the bitch of the gaming realm? Just because most computers don’t have a hi-def display, does not mean you need to rip all the special features you port to one platform. Do not push the 360 to me, my computer cost me more and it can do just as much.

    So, lets talk about the actual game, because it is the best hockey game ever made to this point. I am a Ducks fan, so I was happy to see the new team design being represented in the game, it looks good. The other teams all look the same, so no big change in that department. Skating is a lot smoother and realistic, players actually crossover and skate the correct way when you push them one way or another. I am still waiting for the ability to skate backwards, either straddling the blueline, dragging the puck or just skating backwards with the puck.

    Checking has improved, the animations are a little more realistic, but Chris Pronger still has a problem knocking Henrik Zediberg off the puck when he hits him along the boards…When I crosscheck someone, they better fall, especially if Pronger is the one doing it. The thing I know is still missing is the fisticuffs, how come when I rock a star player, his team doesn’t come to his aid after the whistle? Why, when I hit a player after the whistle, is there no team tussle? Too many high stick calls, tripping calls and other penalties resulting in back to back to back 5 on 3 powerplays. I will have to play with the sliders I guess.

    The defense is a little better this time around and the goalies do seem to be as well. But, it is kind of sad that I can shut out three teams in a row, two of them being Dallas and Detroit. All while the difficulty level was set to the highest setting. Again, I think playing with the advanced sliders will help with that. But if Keith Carney catches up to Andy McDonald after skating backwards, crossing over and then charging after him, the AI needs a little help. It is unfair to never have breakaways because the defense is extremely fast. Also, when Scott Neidermayer is skating back to the opposite end after a bad pass and the forward from the other team beats him, even though I am using acceleration, we need more work.

    So, the same problems that plagued NHL 06, plague this game. BUT, it looks prettier, right? I will sacrifice looks for better, more realistic game play. One day they will get it right, I am sure, but the hype on this game was incredible and I am disappointed.

22
Sep

…Gone Fishin’ — Ducks 5 - Canucks 1

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks and Hockey

The aquatic birds picked the killer whales to death tonight. The Ducks looked awesome tonight and it was my first time seeing Chris Pronger in uniform, I must say he is an intimidating force. It seemed like Vancouver forwards weren’t really going in the corner with him. Other than the one fight that the Canucks won, which was not even close, they didn’t do much. Anaheim simply owned the game, they were all over Roberto Luongo, who was chased early in the 2nd period.

It looks promising, because a lot of regulars for Vancouver were on the ice and it didn’t matter. Even the rookie defenseman looked good, often playing on penalty kills without Pronger or Niedermayer. Lots of penalties, back to back 5 on 3 advantages for both teams, but the Ducks held it all together. I will try to go again on Monday night, but I don’t know if my company will want to give me more tickets. But then again, I am the only one that actually goes to the game and wants to see it.

Giguere played well, McDonald, Kunitz, Selanne, Perry…they all great. I can seriously not wait for the season to start, it is going to be such a tough season for everyone who has to come to Anaheim.

19
Sep

Hockey is Back!

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks and Hockey

I finally got to see some live action, my first since game one of the conference finals, you know, where Dwayne Roloson broke my heart when he flipped that allyoop pass to Peca for a breakaway. Anyways, I went to the preseason opener against the Kings, boy did it suck. It was some bad hockey, it looked like a very unorganized team, like most of them haven’t played together before. The Kings on the other hand, they had a give and go goal from Sean Avery, looked pretty good. So now that it sucked, I will try to give a reason.

Played - Rob Niedermayer, Sean O’Donnell, Stanislov Chistov, Dustin Penner, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Francois Beauchemin, Joe Dipenta, Travis Green and Ilya Bryzgalov.

Did Not - Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, Andy McDonald, Todd Marchant and others did not suit up.

Damnit, I went to see Chris Pronger and he didn’t play. So let me tell you, the game was so bad defensively. O’Donnell played like crap, he whiffed on passes, clearning attempts and was out of position a lot. But all is forgiven, he uppercutted Sean Avery, all is forgiven. There were 4 real fights and a couple team scuffles, it was good stuff. The only sophmores that played well were Ryan Getzlaf and Francois Beauchemin. Ryan whipped the puck in the top corner for the only goal and Beauchemin just looked confident and didn’t over do anything, maybe he still has that swagger from dropping Jerome Iginla…?

As for who underachieved, the rest. Bobby Ryan looked horrid, he was falling, not making anything happen and just looked really tense. The defesense was sloppy and the offesne had no rhythm. I think they had like 7 or 8 penalties as well, it was a very sloppy game. I am hoping that they will have a few less of the rookies by Friday, when I am probably going again.

The people know what is expected this season, the players do too, it was all around the arena. Now, like they all say, lets go make it happen. The season is just around the corner, I know everyone is really excited, I can not wait!

06
Sep

Dueling Backstops

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks and Hockey

As the link says, the Ducks re-signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a two year extension. So that is probably long enough to develop another goalie that we get in a trade or from our farm system, like we always seem to do. Does anyone else ever notice how we never have a lack of goaltending, we love Francois Allaire, don’t we? Good move though, they signed him for $2.36 million for the two years, bargain. Now, lets go ahead, trade Giguere and get us another decent scoring threat.

All the stats are what they are, you can compare the two Cinderella playoff teams and say that they were pretty similar. This time around, we got a better deal on the unproven goalie responsible. I am very impressed with J.S. Giguere, he always has a very good sense to him, his psychological preperation and comments to the media are right on with a confident team player. He didn’t complain about his performance when it wasn’t great, he said he would continue to work hard and everything would turn around. Last years playoffs, when he lost the starting job to Bryzgalov, he said he would not become a cancer and complain about not playing, he was enjoying it. What a great guy.

It will be sad to see him go though. He was a great player and he always came through when you needed him to. Some team will be getting a good goalie, at a hefty price. I can’t wait to see some of the cap room not so stretched. Season, please start up soon, I can’t wait to see Chris Pronger in the ugly uniform!