I know it's a little early for hockey talk -- oh who am I kidding... it's never too early for hockey talk. NHL10 comes out September 15. After how much EA Canada improved in 09, it's hard to believe how many improvements they've made to NHL 10. And also how much they seem to be listening to our suggestions and requests.

...to name a few:

-improved fighting system (first person?!)
-deeper GM mode with a new Blackberry interface, trading block, scouting and rival GM relationship meters
-in-game momentum effects based on grinding and fighting
-ability to protect and play the puck against the boards (kicking to teammates!)
-fantasy draft

IGN's page contains a lot of interviews and videos detailing the improvements.
http://ps3.ign.com/objects/143/14347690.html

I spent more hours with NHL09 than any other game in recent memory and it looks like I'll be in for another time suck with 10. Hopefully there will be enough PS3 owners to field a fantasy league (not holding my breath) or online hockey club. I wanted to start the buzz and bring some more people into the fold if they haven't already discovered how much fun this game will be... even for non-NHL fans.


PS3:
jdpatri - (Flipperbaby) Penguins
Rob V - (Rogbib) Wings
lacubs

360:
Liver&Onions - Canucks
nickdawgy - Kings
nickdawgy's friend - whatevs
Tarantino - (Kleeberg)
TheNightFlier - (Ohcrapifell)
rocketsauce - (ChiBearFan) Blackhawks
ElementZ - (ElementZ2000) Thrashers
lordwow - (Wowous)
dvdsteve2000 - (Snippy DePini) Penguins
acidburnlk - Sharks
flashburn - (FlasHBurN2012) Devils
cmcbruins - (cmcbruins) Bruins
FloPoEric - Blues

i hope they didnt waste space with all them european leagues, all we want is AHL,ECHL and the JR leagues (CHL)

I can't wait! It does sound like they have made many improvements, which I am glad for because I wasn't too impressed with the lack of changes between the last couple of years.

Hitting the puck out of the air sounds pretty cool, but it is going to lead to even more screwy goals.

Now if only we could get the correct number of officials on the ice?!

Im in for a league on PS3.

I have it pre-ordered...got it through some GameSTop deals. I loved 09, this looks great. I also saw players shooting from their knees....wicked.

I passed over 09, so I likely will be in on this one. But I'll be picking the 360 as my console of choice - I still can't enjoy the PS3 controller as much I wish they kept the boomerang.

I'll be getting this for 360, also in for a league.

I will most likely pick this up for the 360. I haven't played a hockey game in a while, but watching the Stanley Cup this year made me interested again.

I demand more people purchase the PS3 version. We're, like, better and stuff.

I can't wait for this. '09 was easily the best hockey game in years imo. I haven't spent this much time playing a sports game in quite awhile.

i will, need a online league still

Should we start signing people up for leagues while this thread is still young so we can build some interest heading towards release when interest is at its peak? And hopefully sway some people to the dark side (PS3). That way when everyone's still amped on the new release we can jump right into leagues/drafts/however we want to set things up.

I've got a couple friends who'd gladly join in the PS3 league.

^^ Yeah, let's do it.

Sounds good. I'll start editing the first post for 360 and PS3 signups. We can also decide along the way whether we want to start a club and/or a fantasy draft league of some sort.

I'm in for a 360 league, but ONLY if I can be my Blackhawks. Otherwise I'm pouting and leaving.

I'm in for a 360 leauge as well.

new video up on IGN about the "Battle for the Cup" mode.

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/143/14347690/vids_1.html

My buddy has been praising the 'Be a Player' mode forever now but every time I'm at the rental store the game is out. I think someone just kept both copies, so I think I'm gonna just pull the trigger on 2010 sight-unseen.

Be a Player is a lot of fun. There's still a lot of room for improvement within the mode though. GM AI really needs to be increased, for example. I hope they expand this part of the game.

Yeah, the Be A Player was pretty fun. I played a season and moved up the ranks pretty quickly (because I was awesome )

I have NHL 10 pre-ordered (got it via the FNR4 deal GameStop had a while back).

I'll be picking this up for 360. I got NHL 09 last Christmas as a bit of a surprise, and I loved it.

I started adding names of players for leagues in the first post. If you want to be added, let me know.

Add me, please.

Add me for 360

Sign me up as well for the 360 league!