It's Game Time

Video game time, that is.

Pardon the brevity, but I'm about to immerse myself in NHL 10's many refinements. But before I do, here are a few random observations that have no bearing on anything of import, but are interesting nonetheless.

*Out of the box, the Ducks are rated 87 on Offense, 84 on Defense, and 88 on Goaltending. Compared with 89/87/89 for the Penguins, 87/85/91 for the Sharks (in their pre-Heatley configuration, sure to be updated shortly), 85/86/88 for the Stars, 86/86/86 for the Kings and 86/83/88 for the Coyotes, I find only the Sharks 91 in goaltending to be off-kilter. The rest seems fair enough in my humble estimation. Also, Detroit rates at 87/85/87, meaning that they're almost exactly on pace with the Ducks in the eyes of the fine folks at EA. Again, I find that to be a fair estimation.

*The forward lines are set as Getzlaf/Perry/Ryan, Koivu/Selanne/Lupul, Christensen/Ebbett/Carter, and Parros/Marchant/Brown. I suppose that 2 out of 4 isn't a terrible rate of success, but even based on before the last bits of our offseason trading frenzy fell into place those bottom two lines seem... off. Still, it's good to see #48 getting some love.

*The defense pairings are Niedermeyer/Wisniewski, Boynton/Whitney, and Sbisa/McCarthy. All three are highly suspect and appear to be driven only by players' in-game ratings.

*Last, but not least, Hiller is slotted as the #1 goalie despite being rated 84 overall, while Giguere (and his slyly-grinning portrait) holds an 85 rating and the #2 seat.

Also, the Ducks' "logo" (I think we've already established that I'm a fan, so you'll know where I'm coming from when I say that the word "Ducks" in pointy letters isn't a logo, it's a font) is awkwardly placed in several of the selection screens. At the moment, I'm looking at a pre-game screen with the Winged Wheel and... an orange U.

Enough rambling - I'll see you in the EASHL.

Until next time...
-The Raving Duck