Topic: EA Partners with Canadian Hockey League for NHL 11

[NWR_Lindy]

This is insta-buy...this has me so hyped.  My hometown London Knights are going to REPRESENT!

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BRANDON, Manitoba--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) in association with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced a four year agreement that will see the league included in EA SPORTS™ NHL® products. The three regional leagues that make up the CHL, including the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), will all have their teams and players represented in EA SPORTS NHL 11 when it becomes available in retail stores this September.

“It’s exciting to have the CHL integrated into our game for the first time”
Representing 51 Canadian and nine American teams with players aged 16-20 the CHL is the top development league in the world and the number one provider of talent to the NHL. 47% of all players selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft came from CHL teams. The 2010 NHL Entry Draft could mark the fourth straight year where a CHL player is selected first overall, with Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers and Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires representing the top two ranked players by NHL Central Scouting.

“The CHL is very excited to partner with an industry leader like EA SPORTS to create a brand new way for CHL fans to associate with their favorite CHL teams and players,” said David Branch, President, CHL. “This opportunity also provides EA SPORTS fans around the world the ability to learn more about the next wave of NHL stars as they compete in the best development league in the world.”

“It’s exciting to have the CHL integrated into our game for the first time,” said Jordan Edelstein, VP of Marketing, EA SPORTS. “Their inclusion will make NHL 11 the most definitive and complete hockey experience available.”

Four of the last five players to be featured on the cover of EA SPORTS NHL Series games are CHL graduates including Patrick Kane, Dion Phaneuf, Eric Staal and Vincent Lecavalier.

The licensing agreement between EA SPORTS and the CHL allows the following to be included in NHL 11:

- Ability to play with all 60 teams that make up the CHL
- Names and Likenesses of players that are on the rosters of a CHL team
- Mastercard Memorial Cup
- CHL new RBK Edge Jersey design in NHL 11
- WHL, OHL and QMJHL logos and league structures

The CHL integration in NHL 11 will tie to several modes in the game, including Be A Pro, Be A GM, Tournament Mode, Season Mode and Playoff Mode.
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To 99% of Americans this means nothing, but to Canadians this is the sickest video game news I've heard in a LONG time.  Where I'm from, CHL players are like, guys from your high school.  And they're going to be in an EA Sports game.

[Guitar Smasher]

That's neat but what about the AHL?  Oh, go 67's!

[NWR_insanolord]

Count me among the 1% of Americans who are excited about this. I'm vowing right here and now to annihilate Lindy and his London Knights with my Erie Otters.

That's neat but what about the AHL?  Oh, go 67's!

The AHL's already in the current EA NHL games.

[TJ Spyke]

I didn't know there was a CHL, I thought Canada was already represented by its 5 NHL teams. I guess I realize why, the press release itself basically says the CHL is a minor league (like the AHL is).

I am curious as to how this game will do against NHL 2K11 since 2K Sports is only making a Wii version this year.

[Toruresu]

Hockey? Who plays that crap?!

[spolier]Har har?[/spoiler]

[Shaymin]

It's a league that's supposed to be for players between 16 and 19 years of age (each team can have 3 players that are 20) and is the main feeder league for the NHL.

Of course, my hometown team finished last in the country this year. So the first year of this, their rating will be somewhere in the 30s. SAD END

[NWR_Lindy]

Hahaha.  Yeah, thankfully the Knights are pretty much one of the powerhouse teams in the OHL, so they'll be quite highly rated I'm sure.

Quick preview of Knights vs. Otters
http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/statdisplay.php?type=standings&subType=1&season_id=38

101 points yeeeeeeeah.  Lost in 7 games to Kitchener in the West finals though, which allowed Windsor to run roughshod over the Barrie Colts.

I think it's awesome they have the QMJHL in there too...huge propects come through there, like Crosby, Lecavalier, Lemieux, etc.

[Ian Sane]

Where I'm from, CHL players are like, guys from your high school.

Where are you from?  No one from my high school went to the CHL.  My cousin does know players from the Chilliwack Bruins but I think she met them after they became Bruins.
 
For those that don't know what this is, it's like if the next Madden or NBA game also had NCAA teams.  What I find cool about this is that it's such hardcore hockey stuff.  It's a level of detail that is almost overboard and most people will not give a **** about it.  The appeal of an NHL game is that it's the NHL.  This is just a cool thing for the handful of hockey nutbars that would care.
 
Next year let's add the KHL.
 
And Spyke, Canada has 6 NHL teams.

[TJ Spyke]

You're right, I forgot about Vancouver.

[NWR_insanolord]

Where I'm from, CHL players are like, guys from your high school.

Where are you from?  No one from my high school went to the CHL.  My cousin does know players from the Chilliwack Bruins but I think she met them after they became Bruins.
 
For those that don't know what this is, it's like if the next Madden or NBA game also had NCAA teams.  What I find cool about this is that it's such hardcore hockey stuff.  It's a level of detail that is almost overboard and most people will not give a **** about it.  The appeal of an NHL game is that it's the NHL.  This is just a cool thing for the handful of hockey nutbars that would care.
 
Next year let's add the KHL.
 
And Spyke, Canada has 6 NHL teams.

As someone who goes to a somewhat obscure college that happens to be Division I in hockey, I'd absolutely love to see NCAA hockey in the NHL game, since it's certainly not big enough for its own game. Even if they did it, though, it'd probably only be the men's side; our men's team is decent enough, but our women's team is one of the best in the country.

[TJ Spyke]

My hometown RIT Tigers managed to shock college hockey by making it to the Frozen Four this year, so I would love to see them in a video game.