Searching for (and then critiquing) the latest player ratings is a time-honored tradition for hockey fans ever since real-life hockey stars first appeared in video games. Normally, that’s something that you would do shortly after opening up the game, but thanks to Operation Sports, you won’t have to wait until the September 13 release date to gripe about Sidney Crosby being the highest rated skater at 94.
The sports gaming Web site revealed NHL 12’s ratings for skaters as well as the full team and legends ratings today. You can pour over every minute (if outdated) detail on those rosters at your leisure, but I thought I’d point out the each teams’ top three skaters - as in forwards and defensemen, not goalies - that were revealed in that post.
Before getting into the list of 30 teams’ highest rated skaters and legends, here are a few reactions.
- Aside from the Blues, Panthers and Coyotes, just about every team has a borderline “star” (87 rating or above) player. That doesn’t always seem fair, but it could make the game more fun since the playing field might be a bit more even.
- Still, I must admit I let out an audible “Wow” when I saw Dustin Byfuglien’s rating. Some might feel the same way about Phil Kessel, Erik Johnson, Jeff Carter and so on.
- How can a legend be rated an 85?
- Look, I know Marian Gaborik is ultra-talented and that games aren’t required to factor injuries as much as maybe they should but ... is he really better than Brad Richards?
OK, now that I have my own knee-jerk reactions out of the way, let’s get cracking.
A couple notes first: These rosters are obviously a bit outdated (example: Alex Frolov is on the Rangers’ roster instead of in the KHL), so it’s quite possible that EA will release an immediate roster update that might change this quite a bit. That being said, player ratings often remain static through frequent updates, only to see drastic changes in certain situations.
There are a few teams with an extra player rating mentioned for your own aggravation/amusement. Legends ratings are listed at the end of this post. Finally, there are some ties for third place, so consult this link for a deeper look at those rosters.
Anaheim
Ryan Getzlaf - 91
Corey Perry - 90
Bobby Ryan - 89
Boston
Zdeno Chara - 91
David Krejci - 87
Milan Lucic - 87
Buffalo
Derek Roy - 88
Thomas vanek - 88
Jason Pominville - 87
(Ville Leino - 82)
Calgary
Jarome Iginla - 90
Alex Tanguay - 85
Jay Bouwmeester 84
Carolina
Eric Staal - 90
Joni Pitkanen - 84
Tomas Kaberle - 84
(Jeff Skinner - 83)
Chicago
Jonathan Toews - 91
Marian Hossa - 89
Patrick Kane - 89
(Duncan Keith - 89)
Colorado
Paul Stastny - 87
Erik Johnson - 87
Matt Duchene - 84
Columbus
Rick Nash - 89
Jeff Carter - 87
Kristian Huselius - 84
Dallas
Loui Eriksson - 87
Brenden Morrow - 87
Alex Goligoski - 85
Detroit
Pavel Datsyuk - 93
Henrik Zetterberg - 91
Nicklas Lidstrom - 88
Edmonton
Ales Hemsky - 87
Ryan Whitney - 85
Shawn Horcoff - 84
Florida
Stephen Weiss - 85
Brian Campbell - 84
David Booth - 84
Los Angeles
Anze Kopitar - 88
Drew Doughty - 88
Mike Richards - 87
Minnesota
Mikko Koivu - 88
Dany Heatley - 88
Devin Setoguchi - 84
Montreal
Michael Cammalleri - 87
Andrei Markov - 87
Tomas Plekanec - 87
Nashville
Shea Weber - 89
Ryan Suter - 87
Sergei Kostitsyn - 83
New Jersey
Ilya Kovalchuk - 91
Zach Parise - 91
Travis Zajac - 85
NY Islanders
Mark Streit - 87
John Tavares - 87
Michael Grabner - 83
NY Rangers
Marian Gaborik - 89
Brad Richards - 88
Marc staal - 85
Ottawa
Jason Spezza - 88
Sergei Gonchar - 85
Daniel Alfredsson - 84
Philadelphia
Chris Pronger - 90
Danny Briere - 87
Claude Giroux - 87
(Jaromir Jagr - 83)
Phoenix
Shane Doan - 85
Keith Yandle - 84
Rostislav Klesla - 83
Pittsburgh
Sidney Crosby - 94
Evgeni Malkin - 91
Kris Letang - 85
San Jose
Joe Thornton - 91
Patrick Marleau - 88
Dan Boyle - 87
St. Louis
David Backes - 85
Barrett Jackman - 84
Andy McDonald - 84
Tampa Bay
Steven Stamkos - 91
Martin St. Louis - 89
Vincent Lecavalier - 88
Toronto
Phil Kessel - 87
Dion Phaneuf - 85
Luke Schenn - 84
Vancouver
Sedin twins - 91
Ryan Kesler - 88
Washington
Alex Ovechkin - 93
Nicklas Backstrom - 87
Alex Semin - 87
(Mike Green - 87)
Winnipeg
Dustin Byfuglien - 87
Andrew Ladd - 85
Nik Antropov - 85
Legends
Mario Lemieux - 97
Wayne Gretzky - 97
Steve Yzerman - 92
Ray Bourque - 91
Gordie Howe - 91
Chris Chelios - 89
Jeremy Roenick - 88
Borje Salming - 85
***
If you ask me, EA made the smart move by giving Lemieux and Gretzky the same rating. Anyway, how do you feel about these initial ratings? Feel free to share your reactions in the comments.
(H/T to On the Forecheck.)