
"On the ice, NHL 13 is the strongest sequel in the series to date. Off it? That's a bit more complicated..."

For the first time ever the fans were able to decide who would grace the cover of NHL 13. Voting took place online at [http:/covervote.nhl.com covervote.nhl.com]. The official cover athlete was revealed on June 20th, 2012 at the 2012 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was announced at the NHL Awards that the voting had come down to forward Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers (Concept) and goalie Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators (Concept). Claude Giroux was named the winner of the contest.
NHL 13 is driven by real-world physics and a new skating engine. More than 1,000 new game play animations have been added to help authentically replicate the explosiveness, momentum, and top-end speed of today's NHL players.
Skating has been altered as well to allow players the opportunity to switch to backwards skating with the push of a button. This will allow smoother transitions when trying to get shots off in the offensive zone.
NHL 13 will also implement a "chop" feature which will allow players to hack at their opponents when they have the puck in order to gain puck possession from them.
NHL 13 features a completely overhauled A.I. and logic. NHL 13 players are now fully aware of each other on the ice. Players are smarter and quicker at making more true-to-life hockey decisions. Hockey IQ also adds a layer customization to strategies never seen before in the NHL series.
The trading block has been revamped for NHL 13. You will now be able to specifically explain to other teams just what exactly you are looking for. In past games you only had a few options to describe what you were looking for including athleticism and defense. Teams will now look at where they are currently in the standings to see what exactly their team needs to make the next move. If a team is near the bottom, they will attempt to now sell off veterans for draft picks. However, if that team makes a run near the end of the season and gets better, the AI will now try and trade for a player that will help them rather than continue to dump off salary. Teams will continuously look at their roster throughout the season and alter what type of team they are.
Searching for possible players to trade for has also received an upgrade. You can now let teams know exactly what you're looking for. For example, you can indicate that you need a sniper or scorer between a certain age range as well. The game will also search for the type of players you'd like and offer examples of possible trading partners.
NHL 13 now features improved goalies. They now will anticipate plays and "cheat" in certain situations. Each limb of the goalies can now move during save animations at a moments notice. Several new goalie animations have been added.
NHL 13 general manager mode goes online allowing users to manage, play, or coach with and against friends in their own 30 team human controlled league.
GM Connected can be played in a variety of ways.
Overall, users will be able to choose the following roles to play GM Connected.
Be a Pro and the EA SPORTS Hockey League features better matchmaking and the ability to appoint your own online team captain.
NHL 13 features the ability to customize your NHL 13 based on your favorite team. Also brings a new level on ice presentation.
The game will also feature both NHL Winter Classics from the 2011-2012, and 2010-2011 season. This includes the Winter Classic that took place at Heinz Field (Location), home of the Pittsburgh Steelers (Concept), as well as the Winter Classic that took place at Citizens Bank Park (Location) in Philadelphia (Location), home of the Philadelphia Phillies (Concept) (although EA did not get the rights to the park, so it's named Philadelphia Park).
The Winter Classic at "Philadelphia Park" also recreates new dramatic lighting that shows the game starting in the afternoon and ending as dusk sets in. This is new to NHL 13 as well.
NHL 13 allows users to rewrite or relive history of some of the most thrilling moments from today’s NHL. New moments will be added as the season progresses. The game will feature real world clips of the games that you will be playing in.
It has already been announced that Edmonton Oiler, Sam Gagner, and his eight point game will be playable. The same goes for Pittsburgh Penguin, Sidney Crosby, and his return to the NHL after his long absence due to concussions will be playable. The game will ship with 26 NHL moments from the past season. It will also feature 3 classic moments from various points in NHL history.
However, for the "Classic NHL Moments" (which include Doug Gilmour (Character), Mario Lemieux (Character), and Wayne Gretzky (Person)) users will use one classic player that will play on the current team.
The first downloadable moment from the 2012 Stanley Cup (Object) Playoffs is now available.
NHL Legends returns to NHL 13 as well. This year new players will be added to the NHL legends team including female hockey players for the first time. The players are as follows. A 14 year old female fan wrote in to EA requesting that Female Hockey players be added.
Features a revamped design, improved reward system and a new playoff format.
The career length has also been removed from the HUT mode. In previous versions of NHL each player you brought into your HUT Team was only give a certain amount of games that they could play. This is not an issue in NHL 13. Team management has also been updated this year as well.
Training cards have also been altered as well. Before, you could use multiple training cards on one player to increase their rank. However, training cards have now been adapted to apply to individual game use instead.
The initial HUT Starting pack will now also feature your favorite teams logo, their home/away jerseys, and a few players from your favorite team. The auction house will return as well.
This season also includes "HUT Daily Rewards." These rewards are based on the "puck" currency system which allows you to continue to buy new card packs to update your team.
The game also features a "HUT Team of the Week" which will show you which players in the NHL are on hot streaks. You can then challenge that team each week that EA has put together. You will also have the ability to look in the HUT Leaderboard and challenge any team that has been put together by any other users on the PS3 and 360.
There will also be an iOS HUT App which will allow you to work on comparing and picking up new players for your team.
There are also bonuses for those that played HUT in NHL 12 (Game). You will be rewarded in NHL 13 for having a record with your previous team. Puck bonuses will also transfer over.
EA Season Ticket subscribers were able to purchase a digital copy of NHL 13 three days before the retail release via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
You will also be given 6 months worth of gold premium packs for the HUT Mode.
NHL 13 also comes with a download code for the full retail version of 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (Game).
NHL 13 will feature various bands for the soundtrack. As with the previous games, NHL 13 will also feature the ability to implement custom soundtracks.
The demo will consists of several options and modes to play through.
