Conclusion: Best version yet, and I've been buying it every year since '93.

I just hope they add alumni teams next year! Gretzky and LaFontaine return!!

NHL 2003 is not a bad game but not worth the extra cash you'll pay over just buying NHL 2002 from the bargain bin. The breakaway replays are nice, and goals aren't all perfect anymore, some trickle in.

On the whole it just doesn't justify spending twice what you'd pay for an older version of the same thing. Determining how hard an opposition you face is much, much worse than before. You cannot choose whether to manual or auto-aim for a season - play on Medium or harder and it's manual (good), play easier than that and it's auto-aim (which is bad). If you want something different you have to manually change it EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU PLAY THE GAME. Unforgivable.

The replay cam is available or unavailable for no apparent reason (mid game usually yes, end of game or period usually no). The player AI is maddeningly stupid. My players will skate directly at the puck, and then a foot away turn and move in another direction for no reason. Your ability to pick up the puck is also frustrating - your stick must be exactly over the puck to get it, so you'll often skate past a free puck. Your players and others will teleport through the net. The AI determining who you'll hit is sloppy, often you'll rush right at the puck handler, hit the 'big hit' button, and veer off 90 degrees to aim at some player further away who has nothing to do with the play. Speed burst is much clumsier than prior years, though that gets better with practice.

You'll get few shutouts no matter how dominating you are, late in the third the other team will score anytime they shoot from inside your blue line: it's automatic. Your goalie stats will be somewhat better than prior years only because the AI takes more shots.

Buy NHL 2002 for much less, and wait for 2003 to hit the bargain bin.

I'm not usually big on sports simulation, but this one is pretty good. It isn't to tough and the options are good(love the create a player mode). I liked the fact that with create players and trading you could take the crappiest team in the league and make them the best(which I couldn't do on the last NHL game I bought which was 94 on the old Sega Genesis.) Or vice versa. Lol. The P.A's hilarious(my favourite is when he announces that their accepting resumes for a new p.a(public address) man. And it's the hometeam that wants to get rid of him. Kudo's for not making the p.a just bland and repeating the same thing about goals and such.

The Bad

Well there's a few bad points to it. Your AI controlled players on your team are next to useless(they give incoming forward wide berths in your zone. and seem to skate senselessly around) Cheap goal(Backhands going in on in from the bluline? 100mph slapshots from right in front of the net?) and as some have pointed out already, the AI controlled team goes on scoring spurts where everytime they shoot the puck at your net it goes in. But there's a balance they forgot to mention that you also go on these type of spurts and they don't happen in every game. But it's still annoying when your up 3 goals near the end of the last period and your suddenly down 2 with 10 seconds to go. Also the animations and p.a stuff is a bit repetetive.

The Ugly

Why do all the coaches look the same?(plus the NHL president) and is it just me or do all the coaches look like a young Vince Mcmahon?