OK, being the penultimate hockey fan that I am, I bought
this game as soon as it came out.  I've also bought 
Faceoff '97 and Powerplay, and this is what I have to
say about the games.

NHL '97 is probably the most realistic in terms of actual
hockey play.  When I played Faceoff '97 and Powerplay, I
could routinely score 7+ goals a game using 5 minute periods.
And mind you, this was only using one timers.  No breakaways
or wraparound goals.  The worst part was that I would get
over 40 shots a game and the computer would get about 13.
Mostly because he would just go in the corner looking for
the centering pass . . and well, you just put your defensemen
in the way, and steal the pass.

NHL '97 changes that.  I've played three games, so far, and
have beaten Montreal 4-2, Washington 6-3, and NY Islanders
4-0.  I was using Philadelphia, and using 10 minute periods,
I have been outshot in every game, on average about 45-35.
What I don't like is that the one-timers are awfully hard
to do.  Players just don't skate to the open side of the net
like they do in the other games.  But, in retrospect, this 
makes the game fun.  More and more, I connect with passes to
my defensemen and score on one-timers.  I have even seen
a deflection by John LeClair, on a point shot by Svoboda.
I don't know if it was intentional, because the shot hit
LeClair and just trickled into the net.  

The best part is that the goal scoring is coming from 
everyone.  In the three games, Eric Desjardins leads
with 2 goals and 3 assists.  Both his goals came on
one-timers.  Meanwhile, Mikael Renberg has 2 goals, and
both of those were in empty nets from the first two
games.  I even saw Joel Otto rip a shot from the slot 
right through Eric Fichauds pads.  I think that if you
try to score on one-timers only, you will get a different
game.  

If scoring 20 goals a game is what you want, and if you
don't care how you score them, then I'm sure you'll find
the loopholes that make it possible to score at will.  I 
do know, that on breakaways in NHL '97, a simple deke
right at the goalies feet to one side will leave an empty
net on the other side.  As far as signature moves, I haven't
even used them . . and if anybody is making a list of
what they are, and when to use them, I would appreciate it.
Wouldn't it be nice if goalies had signature moves, such as
Hextall shooting the puck all the way down the ice or
Irbe doing the splits on a breakaway??

As it is, most of the goalies just seem to clear the puck down
the boards rather easily, and you can start most breakaways
this way.  All in all, I have a lot of fun playing this
game, as goal scoring is now a challenge.  Setting up plays
becomes crucial, especially for one timers.  One trend I
have seen is that if you're at the side of the net, there
are times when the goalie will go down, which is the perfect 
time to throw a pass to the point for a one-timer.  If you 
try to slide the puck through the crease, it will always 
get intercepted or your player will not get the one-timer
off.  This is frustrating, because I'm wondering if the Jagr
to Lemieux connection would work or not.

Oh well, I've rambled on long enough.
Anybody have questions or comments?

Rodd_M_Polsky@sbphrd.com