First post.
I'm glad to see a lot of console gamers have discovered the PC version of NHL 95. That was THE GAME, and is still my favorite. I have recently bought an HTC EVO Android phone and been playing the various EA NHL games on both the gensoid and snesoid emulators, which are awesome. It's actually very playable using touchscreen controls, but the level of difficulty is a little higher. Which, honestly, is a good thing. As you noted, these games are too easy to beat once you're seasoned at it.
I never played NHL 94 on console back in the day, so I'm seeing them for the first time. The gameplay is like an old friend - came back to me immediately. It feels like my memories of NHL 95 PC. But it's so disappointing to see that they didn't have the season mode. To me, that depth was the biggest reason to continue playing, and it's the thing that got me hooked. It's also weird because the PC version gives you 4 full lines instead of three, which adds to the depth. I've tried 93/95/96/97/98 on the emulators and the gameplay isn't the same, they play so FAST. Is it really that fast on the actual console? After trying them all, I would still rate NHL 94 console the best of the console games, followed by NHL 98. Genesis vs. SNES really seemed to make little difference other than presentation here and there. NHL 98 on console was pretty good because it had the season mode, and you could select "low" as the game speed - better but still pretty fast. Not to mention the defensive AI actually got worse, the defenders charge directly at the puck handler as soon as he crosses the blue line. And usually they bounce off of him. At least your offensive teammates will pull up at the blue line and let you get across - much less offsides in NHL 98 console.
Back to the NHL 95 PC version, I found that the game was still challenging if you take a poor team (like Ottawa) instead of a powerhouse like Calgary. The defensive AI on the PC game is far beyond the console versions, and couple that with slow players with poor shots, and you have yourself a real challenge. And if that is too easy, sabotage your own team by changing the lines to put the best players on the bench. But playing multi-player was by far the best - playing against my brothers who were equally skilled....it was pretty much like the scene from Swingers. Trash talk and lighting the lamp. That awesome horn.
Another thing I noticed about NHL 94 console, was that your teammates are stupid and always charge into the zone before the puck gets there (i ALWAYS play with offsides on). I hate to dump the puck in, so I have to be very careful about hitting the lead man on a break. I can't remember if this was a problem with NHL 95 PC or not.....now I'm interested in setting up dosbox and giving it a run. Looks like all i need to know is right here in this thread.