Here's the deal on NHL 97, from the 2 hours i played.. 
 
 Good things: 
 
 +All 26 teams(and All star teams) and 650 NHL players are included 
 +Ability to trade, create, sign, release players 
 +Shootout option (nice)
 +8 camera modes _and_ the ability to reverse the camera
 +great helmet cam, but it's hard to get used to
 +all other camera angles such as low, classic, isometric..ect are
  all very nicely done, very clean and easy to see the action from.
 +Players move _so_ fluidly and are made up of all polygons, with a
  textured  generic face. (superbly textured, but looks like the same
  face for everyone)
 +The animation of the players and goalies is simply spectacular
 (sweet)
 +Huge variety of goalie saves, that animate with such great fluidity 
 +Nice realism added to the game such as a goalie clearing his
  crease or a player getting leveled and falling to his knees.
 +The rinks look spectacular with the great textured logo's at center
  ice, nice board detail(ads), a simply stunning side transparent glass, 
  and polygon fans that actually animate. (although, not that nuch).
 +the game speed is slower then Faceoff's, which in my opinion
  makes for a better sim. game.
 +2 line offsides, icing, offsides ect..all the rules are intact. 
 +Major penalties, minor penalties, fighting majors,ect..
 +Yes, you can fight also...but i have yet to have one
 +Hip, poke, board, body checks and even hold a player
 +You're player can dive to stop a shot
 +The puck carems(sp?) off bodies realistically
 +The puck will offen go out off the rink and even in the players
  bench (good)
 +Players hop over the boards during line changes (very realistic)
 +Passing is very crisp and accurate from many angles
 +The rinks are perportionally bigger then faceoff's (more area to set
  up plays)
 +Puck is easyily identifiable, no matter where the action is
 +Players have their real names and numbers on the backs of jerseys  
 +Players and their jersey's are superbly rendered (best since
  Shootout)
 +A.I. seems very good, so far..
 +A.I. goalies will freeze the puck when you're player is near, and
  let it go when no one is near.
 +Goalie will sometimes get caught going after a loose puck (nice)
 +Season, exhibition, shootout, and playoff options 
 +Goalie will leave net when a penalty is called
 +Drop, fake, slap, wrist, one time shots and give and go's
 +Signature moves for different players, and spin o ramma's 
 +One button ability to stop one a dime, and speed bursts
 +Auto or manual handling of the goalie(poke check, cpu chossen save,
  and dive attempts)
 +Flip puck out of zone, or pass it down off the boards
 +Players do some sweat animations after a goal or during a stopage
 +nice up close, panning intro just as the American or Canadian 
 antem is finished, to start off the game
 +Some hits and on ice sounds are well done..but most others are (see
  below..)
 +Save season, playoff, or roster data to memory card
 +All the stats you can think of (or it seems)
 +Can call a timeout to rest a line
 +3 skill levels
 +nice features such as highlighted icons showing shot speed or time
  left
 on powerplay or last minute of period message.
 +J.D (John Davidson) does the P.A. announcing (weird..) 
 +Scorer is announced by J.D. on P.A.
 +Player pictures are displayed along with J.D.'s announcing of the
 starting lineup's, before the game.
 +J.D. announces things like "last minute in the period" and "penalty
  on  XXXXX, # XX" and some other nice phases. (but why J.D.?)
 +J.D. does some generic in between period analyisis of the game and
  also before and after the game, in full screen fmv. (looks good,
  that's it) 
 +James Brown is in the Studio before the game giving a generic
 dialoge, in full screen fmv. (nothing major)

 Well, there is so much other good stuff it's impossible to name them
 all so here's the bad stuff!

 -No goal light and a weak sounding siren
 -No injuries (E.A.? it's in the game)
 -can you say 16-bit on ice like sound effects? Damn, iv'e heard
  better sound  from the genny 16-bit NHL series. 
 -the screen seems to scroll a bit too slow for the action (maybe it's
  me?)
 -There's no damn play-by play announcer..this is CD format, E.A.!!!
 -Shooting can take a while to get used to..nothing major
 -Crowd noise is just that..noise. There's no major home team cheering
 -Out of all the animations of players, the shooting is probably the
  weakest (although it still destroys Faceoff 97')
 -No white cushion in the goal..actually the goal is rather lame
  looking compared to the rest of the rink. (O.K. compared to great)
 -some player photo's are missing and rosters are a bit off
  (ie..Gretzky is on the NYR but so is Verbeek!)
 -No ref _anywhere_ during gameplay or even faceoffs, in fact faceoffs
  have a puck hanging in the air, waiting to drop. (weak)
 -J.D. does not announce what the penalty is for(just on screen)
 -Puck seems to slide down ice slightly faster then real life
 -The puck is a tad large (which can be good or bad, in you're
  opinion)
 -The fmv and intro gets herky jerky too often

 Well, i'm sure i missed a few others, but they seemed to slip my
 mind.  (I'm sure this group will find them _all_ :)

 Overall, NHL 97' brings the best graphics ever done in a sports game
 since Shootout's, along with incredible animations and realism.
 The gameplay is very solid..if not spectacular, and it just feels
 _right_.
 And, although the sound is lame and i mean LAME!, and there's no
 announcer, this is EASILY the best console next generation hockey game
 _ever_.
 Please don't compare Faceoff 97' or Powerplay to it..there is simply
 NO comparison. (Yes i have Faceoff 97' and Powerplay)
 
 Actually it's probably the best combination of gameplay/sim/and
 graphics ever done for a sports game, on a console.
 
 If you're a hockey fan you _must_ play this game, heck even if you're
 just a casual fan, check it out.

 Initial Raating:

 Graphics: 9.0 (would have been a 9.5 but it's a bit slow scrolling)
 Gameplay: 9.2 
 Sound:    5.5 (What a joke, E.A.!)

 Overall: 8.6 (could have been a 9+, but the sound is awful)

 Anyway, sound grips aside, it's a must have. 
 
 Hope this helps,

 Phil...