Sauce

Something to keep in mind, if you're doing a true "best of" rom, you should consider having certain players on multiple teams or, you are short-changing those teams. For example... Gretzky - Equally important on EDM and LA (even though his legacy years are in EDM). Chelios - was awesome in MTL and CHI Bobby Hull - HoF for CHI but he put WPG on the map. Hasek - Known for his years in BUF but won a Cup in DET and gave OTT it's best year ever. Belfour - Known for his lights out years in CHI but won a Cup in DAL Sawchuk - Won Cups in DET and TOR (won the last ever Cup in TOR). Messier - Equally important on Oiler and NY. Winning a Cup, in EDM, without Gretzky, solidified him as a HoFer. Winning a Cup in NY made him a house-hold name and a NY sports legend. Brett Hull - his best years were in STL but he won a Cup in DAL (on a famed line) and in DET (albiet, a loaded team). Roy - Equally important on MTL and COL. Won 2 Cups with each. Dominant for each. Scott Neidermayer - won Cups with NJ and ANA and has his number retired for both. Pronger - had his best years in STL but was a Cup champion (and still an A/S) in ANA. And that's just a few off the top of my head. Food for thought... The game isn't real so having a player on multiple teams won't defy human existence. LOL Anywho... it's your show so take the feedback in stride. Keep up the good work!

Based on your spreadsheet (and you already have my notes on line combos and whatnot), here are some key players that I see as "missing." Again, all food for thought... ANA - Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermayer are the two best Dmen in the franchise's history. The latter has his number retired by the team. Francois Beauchemin would be another good add. I'd add all three over Manson, Tverdovsky and Havelid. BOS - Add Dumant and Bauer so you have the Kraut Line of the late 30s/early 40s. Much better players and more important to the organization then Krecji and O'Reilly. BUF - I'd go with Lindy Ruff over Tyler Myers. CGY - I'd go with Bouwmeester over Brodie. CHI - Dennis Hull over Patrick Sharp. Pierre Pilote was way better, and more important to the organization than Hjalmarsson, Brown and Murray combined. LOL. But seriously, look him up. Zhamnov is more of a Jet in terms of star years (even though he was with the Hawks longer). His best years were in WPG. Recommend Jim Pappin who was more important to the organization. DAL/MIN - Brett Hull over Benn or Seguin... in a heart beat! Hull-Modano-Lehtinen is one of the most underrated lines in all of hockey history. They were fantastic and a HUGE reason why the Stars won the Cup in 1999. Does anyone remember who scored the Cup clinching goal? Also, Jon Casey over Lehtonen. Klingberg shouldn't be there over Craig Ludwig. His mullet alone should get him in. LOL DET - Slava Fetisov over Bergman or Goodfellow. Jimmy Howard - no, just no. Hasek over him any day of the week. Or, Mike Vernon. Both won a Cup in DET and the latter was the Conn Smyth winner in 97. EDM - MacTavish over Nugent-Hopkins FLA - Pavel Bure over Horton. MTL - Toe Blake over Lalonde. Adding him gives you the famous "Punch Line." Chris Chelios over Brisebois or Talbot ANIEC. I realize that you have him on the Hawks, too, but he was equally great on both teams. But, if you're going with one appearance per rom, then go with the Hawks. NYI - Turgeon should be on the Isles. NYR - Phil Esposito over Laprade unless you are doing the once per team thing in which case, leave him on the Bs. Harry Howell and Brad Park over Staal or Giradi. Howell's in the Hall of Fame and his #3 is retired by the team. Park is also in the HoF and had his best years in NY. He cried (rumored) when the team traded him to the Bs and he loved being a Ranger and the fans loved him. He is a NYR legend and it is a crime that he didn't have #2 retired like Leetch (especially, as the team has two #9s and 11s retired). Staal and Girardi will not make the HoF or have their numbers retired. Seriously, HOWELL AND PARK. Sincerely, ALL (or most) NYR FANS! LOL I'd also go with Dave Maloney (giving you both bros) and Jeff Beukeboom over Seiling and Johnson. OTT - Emery over Tuggnutt PHI - I'll leave that to @clockwise as that's his boys! QUE/COL - Dan Bouchard over Varlamov AINEC. Marian and Anton Stastny over Duchene and O'Reilly. O'Reilly is more known for his years as a Sabre or more importantly, a Blue. All three Stastny Brother formed one of the best lines in hockey during the 80s. They "killed it" in 1983-84. SJS - Irbe over Niemi. Sharks fans hated Niemi. I realize you have Larionov on DET and Marakov on the Flames but, without those two, along with Irbe, the Sharks don't have the season they had in 1993-94. STL - O'Reilly over Turgeon. Also, this is where Adam Oates belongs. Look up what Hull and Oates did together. No brainer on this one. I'd recommend him over Berglund any day of the week. Also, Jordan Binnington over Allen. The latter stinks (compared to) and the former just won them a Cup. TOR - Joe Primeau over Ullman. Adding him gives you the famed "Kid Line" of the 30s. VAN - Luongo over Markstrom but if you're doing the once per rom, leave him in FLA. If not Lou, then Richard Brodeur. He was their starting goaltender during the Cup appearance in 1982. WPG/ARZ - Bobby Hull but if you're doing the once per rom, leave him in CHI. Anywho... nice job on the spreadsheet and concept. I think this will be a very fun rom once you go live with it! When you post it, please make sure to credit the folks whose rom that you "borrow." Especially, if you're borrowing any of their existing art or work. So, wboy, CoachMac, Clockwise, mine, Naples, Skip/Slapshot, JKline or whoever for example. Good luck with this project...excited to see the end result! Cheers!

Oh shoot... my bad... I thought those embedded images were from your rom. Lol. Sorry for the confusion. I should have read more carefully. Your spreadsheet does have several of the “missing” players that I mentioned but is also missing several as well. But, in the end, it’s your rom so definitely “do you” in terms of what you’d like to have in or out of the rom. Thank you for the kind shout out! I look forward to your finished product! Keep up the good work!

First off, nice job! Sounds like a cool rom. Thanks for doing it! Some food for thought... ANA: Rucchin centered Kariya and Selanne. That was a dominant line in the late 90s. CHI: Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull didn't play on the same line in their years together in Chicago. In fact, they both played on two different famous lines (Million Dollar Line and Scooter Line). The MPH line (which was Pit Martin, Jim Pappin and Dennis Hull) was also a famous line for the team. In fact, all three were selected as starters in the 1974 all-star game. Funny enough, coaches wanted Dennis' bro, Bobby, to be on that line but he held out for a new contract and Dennis took the spot. The rest was history as that line stayed together for many years and Bobby bolted for the WHA. Also, Glenn Hall should be in over Crawford. He is much, much, much, much, much better than Crow. I'd even recommend having him as the starter over Esposito. TB: Prospal should be with Vinny and Marty. They were the "MVP Line" and played together quite a lot. WSH: Ovie should be paired with Backstrom and Semin. They were dominant in 2009-10 and played several seasons together. You could consider adding Rod Langway to the D as he is one of the most famous players in team history. The team retired his number and he is a 2 time Norris winner for them. VGK: Marchessault is a winger and doesn't play center for them. That experiment failed when he was in Florida. VAN: A little soon to be putting Hughes on the all-time roster seeing as he has only played in one NHL season. Mattias Ohlund would make more sense given the years he was there. TOR: You didn't include anyone from the famous "KID Line." Jackson-Primeau-Conacher. You're also missing Dave Keon who is considered the greatest Maple Leaf of all time. Joseph and Anderson are not in the same league as Johnny Bower or Turk Broda. Or, Terry Sawchuck who helped them win the 1966-67 Cup. STL: Oates and Hull should be paired together. They dominated together. SJS: Niemi was hated by Sharks fans. Irbe would be a better choice. PHI: Barber-Clarke-Leach played on the same line. The LCB line. They were the one of the best lines in the 70s and arguably better then the Legion of Doom given their success vs the LoD's success. One of them actually won a Cup (2). NYR: You didn't include Vic Hatfield and he, along with Ratalle and Gilbert made up one of the most famous lines in NHL history... The Goal a Game Line. All three have their numbers retired by the Rangers. DeAngelo should not even be in the conversation. He is not even in the top 20 for Rangers D. Harry Howell makes more sense. Hall of Fame and the team retired his number. Greschner would be better as well. NSH: Arvidsson has played with Johansen for the last 3 or 4 seasons and often, they are paired with Forsberg. No Subban? Was a much better player than Zidlicky. MTL: Recommend looking up the Punch Line and Dynasty Line. Those are legendary. You're missing Laich and Blake which is a big omission. You're also missing one of the top 5 d-men in the history of not just the team, but the game... Doug Harvey. Subban should not be there over Harvey. LAK: Taylor played with Dionne and Simmer... The Triple Crown Line which set NHL scoring records, for a line. EDM: Mess played with Simpson and Anderson during the team dominant years when Tiks played with Gretzky and Kurri. One of the best top 6 of all time. COL/QUE: Forsberg on the 4th line and Stastny on the 2nd? Forsberg and Sakic are the franchise. The Stastny Brothers (Peter, Marian and Anton) were a great line (especially in 1983-84). But, they ain't Sakic or Foppa. Bourque was there for about five minutes (a gift trade from the Bs). Johnson, Leschyshyn, Lefebvre or Marois would be more apropos. Plus, if you're gonna add Quinn Hughes to VAN, you should add Cale Makar (who will be beat him for the Caldar ). BUF: Martin played with Perreault and Robert... the famous French Connection. DET: You're missing two of their most famous players who are HoFers with retired team numbers. Delvecchio and Abel. Both centered what was one of the greatest lines in NHL history...the Production line. In each case, Howe and Lindsay were their wingers. Franzen and Kozlov should not be there instead of those two. Red Kelly should be on that D over Chelios seeing as the latter had his best years behind him and is more known for his time in MTL and CHI. BOS: Espo played with Cashman and Hodge... the famous Nitro Line of the 70s. Bergeron plays with Pasta and Rat Face (Marchand)...the Perfection Line. You didn't include anyone from the team's best line in history...the Kraut Line. It was the first line in hockey history to have three forward finish 1,2,3 in league scoring. Dumant-Schmitt-Bauer. They won two Cups. Samsonov, Thornton and Oates should not be in there over them... just saying. NJD: Parise played with Zajac and Langenbrunner. The ZZ-Pops line. Also, consider the A-Line which helped them appear in two cup finals... Elias-Arnott-Sykora. They were an underated line. No Guerin or MacLean? CBJ: Korpo shouldn't be there. Mason deserves it more as he is the only rookie of the year in the team's history. OTT: No Volchenkov? He and Phillips made up one of the best shutdown D pairings in NHL history. Food for thought...also, Emery helped them get the 2006-07 Cup. Also, swap Heatley and Alfredsson. Heater played the right and Alfie, the left. Again, great job putting this together! It's an awesome idea. None of the above is criticism. Just food for thought from an NHL history nerd. I know just how tough it is to do historic roms so hats off for doing it! Cheers!

Howdy! A friend of mine noticed a couple of "errors" with stick hand (L vs R) so I updated the rom accordingly (it's been re-posted in the OP). Upon doing research for another rom that I am working on, I noticed some things that I didn't have "correct", with certain players, so I made a few updates. It was based on some scouting reports and whatnot. So, things that I didn't catch the last time around so I figured, "since I am fixing a couple of errors, why not..." As to what they are, I'll never tell. But, you can always download it and see if you notice anything. This was definitely the most fun that I had putting together a rom! Thank you to anyone who had a kind word or took the time to download it! Hopefully, I am done working on it in any way, shape or form so I can focus on other rom projects. Cheers!

In case anyone is interested in playing as the Seattle Kraken, I have added them to my 2020 Playoff rom (NHL94 2020 vPO). If not, well, that's fine too. You can play as them in an exi as well as the playoff mode.

Hi everyone! As a nice, little surprise, I have added the Seattle Kraken to my 2020 Playoff rom (NHL94 2020 vPO). There is no longer a NHL Prospects team. The Kraken players are based on the players from the 1917-1919 Seattle Metropolitans. 5 of them (Frank Foyston, Harry Holmes, Lester Patrick, Jack Walker and Gordie Roberts) are in the hockey hall of fame. The Mets were the first US-based team to win a Stanley Cup which they did in 1917. Around that time, Foyston was considered one, if not the, top skaters in hockey. Some of the players got some games in the NHL once that league started up but, by that time, were near the ends of their careers. I don't believe any of the players are alive today so, basically, you're playing with ghosts until the Kraken gets some players on their roster. LOL. Also, back in the early 1900s teams only carried 9-10 players so this particular roster has 2 goalies, 7 forwards and 5 defensemen. The rest of the teams have the usual 3/14/8 structure. Because they are an expansion team, I gave them a low team rating (same rating as Detroit, which is the lowest for 2020). However, they do have some good players on the team so it may not feel like an expansion team if you play as them. I have also added Seattle to the playoff brackets. They open against Vancouver. I also fixed a mistake in the brackets of my last PO rom (which this replaces). If you have any questions or if you notice any errors, please let me know. Enjoy! Cheers!

It appears that the team will return to the logo that they used in 1997. The logo is very similar to what was also used in 1994. The difference is it said "Ottawa Senators" where the black arrowheads later appeared in 97 (within the gold circle). https://news.sportslogos.net/2020/07/17/leaked-ottawa-senators-new-2020-21-logo/ I hope they return to this jersey set up as well. Also, very similar to what they used in 1994. There was just no white strip in the black jersey in 94.

No worries... I replied.

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!! lol

I just threw this together but unfortunately, don't have time right now to "clean it up" the way I'd like to...I'm sure others can do better but for starters...

You mean for the team that has no players, no draftees and won't start play until 2021-22?

Every powerplay can start with...

Yup...it's official! The 32nd NHL team will be the Seattle Kraken. https://www.nhl.com/news/seattle-kraken-nickname-for-nhl-expansion-team/c-317588092 Can't say that I'm a fan of the nickname but I guess it could have been worse. I love how they (the team officials) talk about Seattle and its maritime history... they do realize the Kraken isn't a real thing, right? LOL

So, turns out, it may not have even mattered. I just played a playoff game that went to OT and it defaulted a 5 minute period (not 99). So, I tested it out to see what would happen if no one scored after 5 minutes and it simply goes to another 5 min OT period. So, all for not, I guess. I don't even recall the last time I played "playoffs" let alone having it go to double OT. So, my bad. Well, seeing any most folks don't like a tie score endings anyway, at least the 99 min OT will serve a purpose for exis or whatnot.

Hi All! There was one thing that I forgot to put into this rom which was 99 minute OT. I have re-posted the rom to include it so as to avoid ties in the playoffs. As this is a "playoff" themed rom, it made sense to add it into the file. Sorry for the oversight. Updated version is in the OP. That was the only change that I made to the file. Thanks for the "likes" and any positive feedback so far! Cheers! -Sauce

No problem...hope you have fun with it!

I will endorse this! :)

I threw together a short summary (per) of the 26 teams, in this rom. So, here we go... Anaheim – No superstars on this team. Not a lot of offense but, they have a stingy defense and a solid PK. Stephan Lebeau was a disappointment acquisition. He was on a strong decline from the prior year as he went from 31 goals/80 points in 1992-93 to 15 goals/26 points in 1993-94. Two years later, he was out of the NHL and playing in the Swiss League. Bob Corkum has a good year and will provide some offense. Just don't expect much. Boston – 50 goals in 49 games… the line on Cam Neely and his “beast mode” season which unfortunately, ended in a season-ending injury. The B’s had a solid team with good depth at forward and D. Ray Bourque is still the highest rated Dman in the game at 95. Other stud players include Adam Oates and Al Iafrate (acquired at trade deadline). This team got hot during the playoffs, despite not having Neely and Dmitri Kvartalnov (2/3of their top line). They beat a good Montreal team and gave a strong NJ team a bit of a challenge. Losing Joe Juneau at the trade deadline hurts but the acquisition of Iafrate and the emergence of Bryan Smolinski helps. Buffalo – a solid team despite losing their best forward for the majority of the season. The loss of Lafontaine hurt but the top line of Khmylev-Hawerchuk-Mogilny was solid all year. Rookie Derek Plante had a strong debut season as well. Besides losing Lafontaine, they also lost Craig Simpson who was a decent scorer. Yet, they carried on and made the playoffs. The real story was Dominik Hasek. He is the 1993-94 Vezina Trophy winner with an amazing .930 save percentage, a 1.95 goals against and a 7 shutouts (tied for league lead). The start of his dominance in the 90s. He has the biggest ratings increase in this rom, versus the original, as he went from a 52 to a 92. Calgary – yes, the weight bug fix does hurt Theo Fleury’s impact on this rom but he is still a great player. Like Boston, this team has solid forward depth and Dmen depth. The acquisition of Zarley Zalapski and James Patrick definitely bolstered the latter. Mike Vernon can be very "Jekyll and Hyde." He could solid for you in the playoffs, one year, and a train wreck another. Calgary is a solid team and had they not been upset by a hot Vancouver team, in the playoffs, they may have made a run at the Cup. Chicago – still a solid team but not like they were the last couple of seasons. With the weight bug fix, the legend of Jeremy Roenick changes but, he still sees a slight increase in his overall rating from the original rom so, he is still fun to play with. The acquisition of Tony Amonte made for a solid, speedy top line that also included Roenick and Joe Murphy. Hall of Famer Chris Chelios is joined by allstar Gary Suter on the back end so there are still some great players on this team. Ed Belfour is still solid in goal as he was tied with Hasek for the league-led in shut-outs. However, he was not as dominant as he was in 1990-91 or 1992-93. He does see a big decrease in rating from 98 to 84 but the latter in nothing to sneeze at. 98 always seemed a bit too high in my opinion. Dallas – the emergence of the superstar version of Mike Modano. He was getting better each season and definitely upped his game in 1993-94. Russ Courtnall must be watched as he has one of the best 2-3 step accelerations in the NHL at that time. He can explode for several break-aways per game. There are several offensive weapons on this team with a reliable, tough defense as well (led by Mark Tinordi and Derian Hatcher). Detroit – MVP - Sergei Federov. A speedy center who was one of the best defensive forwards to play the game (and not shabby offensively either). He is tied with Mario Lemieux for highest rating in this rom at 100 due to an awesome season. Detroit may be the most skilled team in the game with Federov, Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Nick Lidstrom, Steve Chaisson, Vlad Konstantinov, Dino Ciccarelli and Slava Kozlov. Plus, they had a rookie goalie on the rise in Chris Osgood who made Tim “Five Hole” Cheveldae expendable. Unfortunately, a young Ozzie struggled in his first ever playoff experience. He’d redeem himself down the road. Edmonton – the glory years behind them as the rebuild took place. Jason Arnott had a fantastic rookie season and was runner-up for the Calder Trophy. Too bad his stay in Edmonton only lasted a couple of seasons. Bill Ranford takes a notable hit in ratings due to a subpar season. However, his D wasn’t much help to him either. Shayne Corson and Doug Weight are the other notable forwards on this team. Florida – Like Anaheim, there is a zero offense (other than all-star Bob Kudelski) but a lot of defense. The Hough-Skrudland-Hull line is one of the best "shutdown lines" in 1993-94. Brian Skrudland was one of the most underrated defensive centers in the game. The D is solid in their own zone led by Gord Murphy. But, 1993-94, for this team, was all about the “Beezer." John Vanbiesbrouck had an awesome season and was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy. Don't expect to score many goals with this time BUT, don't expect to give up a ton either. Hartford – The “CVS Line”. That sums it up for offense for this team. Cassels-Verbeek-Sanderson. Everytime that line got broken up, it was quickly put back together. However, they lack scoring from their other lines. Defensively, they had a young Chris Pronger who was starting to establish himself as a stud on the rise. They also had one of the most underrated “stay at home” defensemen of all-time in Brad McCrimmon. They also acquired a dirty, piece of garbage Dman in Bryan Marchment. So, Pronger definitely learned from both as he went on to be a Hall of Fame Dman who was hated by players as he was dirty. Los Angeles – “They are a finesse team.” After a memorable run in 1992-93, the team took a major step backwards in 1993-94. Wayne Gretzky was still the “great one” as this was his last true “Hall of Fame” season (leading the league in assists and points). Luc Robitaille may be slow skater but he is one of the most accurate shooters in history. Jari Kurri was getting a little long in the tooth and they lacked offensive depth and certainly Robert Lang, in 1993-94, was not a suitable number 2 center to take pressure off of Gretzky. Guys like Alexei Zhitnik and Rob Blake were young, stud Dmen in the making. Especially, the latter. Kelly Hrudey was on the decline. Montreal – the 1992-93 champs who were still a very good team. Patrick Roy had a very solid season. While his tenure was nearing its end in Montreal, he was still the “rock” for this team. There’s a lot of offensive talent with Kirk Muller, Brian Bellows, Vincent Damhousse, John Leclair and Gilbert Dionne. Plus, a then underrated two-way Dman named Eric Desjardins. They are a balanced team despite falling flat in the 1993-94 playoffs. New Jersey – the start of great things to come. They were a top 3 team in 1993-94 with the Rangers and Red Wings. While he was already a star Dman, Scott Stevens really upped his game that year. He was already good at offense but his defensive game became legendary starting in 1993-94. Let’s also not forget the Calder Trophy winner who would begin his Hall of Fame career in nice style – Marty Brodeur. If not for the heroics of Mark Messier and “Matteau, Matteau, Matteau” this team may have won it all. The Devils and Rangers played what some consider the greatest 7 game playoff series of all time. While it ended in heart break for NJ, they redeemed themselves the next season by winning it all. New York (Islanders) – Strong offensively, due to Pierre Turgeon, but average defensively. Watch out for Darius Kasparaitis as he is “Ulf Samuelsson Lite.” He’s not afraid to “tag ya.” The rest of their D is “meh”. Nothing special. In fact, Ron Hextall made them seem better, in that area, then they were. Other than the playoffs, he was pretty solid in 1993-94. New York (Rangers) – The 1993-94 champs and the most well-rounded team (in all areas), in this rom. They are not the most talented team (see Detroit) but had the best depth and were solid in ALL areas of the game. Mike Richter sees a nice spike in rating from a 60 to 74 due to a very good season. Brian Leetch got a nice bump as well (as some more speed) as he was one of the best puck-moving Dmen in the game, during that area. The top line changed all of the time as RW was never set in stone. Adam Graves and Mark Messier stuck together throughout the season but Steve Larmer, Alexei Kovalev and Glenn Anderson rotated in at RW (as did Mike Gartner when he was there). Ottawa – they still suck in the game but, saw a slight improvement from the prior year. Alexei Yashin gives gamers a legit star player (even though he was lazy in his own zone) to use. Pretty-boy #1 draft pick, Alexandre Daigle, ended up being a bust despite having a decent rookie season. He may be one of the biggest draft busts in history but he did (rumored) hook up with Sheryl Crow and Pam Anderson. So, at least he has that going for him. He did try a stab at the movie biz and failed. As his hockey career didn’t end up being much, it would have been hard to tell this wanna-be actor to “stick to your day job.” LOL. Norm Maciver is pretty solid and underrated as a player. Playing for a bad team certainly doesn’t help get you much attention but he is fairly good in this rom. Philadelphia – Eric Lindros becomes the truth (especially with the weight bug fix). He became the stud he was expected to be and was carrying this team until his injury killed their playoff hopes. The “Crazy 8s” line was very good in stretches during the season. Mikael Renberg (2/3s of the future Legion of Doom line) had a great rookie season and was a Calder Trophy finalist. Garry Galley and Yves Racine are solid puck-moving D. Goalie is a weakness for this time and would be until the return of Hextall (and then again, off and on, after he retires). Pittsburgh – as Clockwise noted above, their biggest weakness becomes a strength with the weight bug fix. There’s a bunch of big guys on this team who can carry the puck and play physical. Watch out for the Samuelsson Twins. Both are very solid in their own end. "Ulfie" was very intimidating to play against as he was big and physical and a bit dirty (knee hits and face washes). Mario Lemieux missed a chunk of the season but made it back for the playoffs. He put up typical "Super Mario" numbers which is why he is tied for highest rated player in the game. During his absence, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis and Kevin Stevens held down the fort. As did star Dman Larry Murphy. But, don’t forget/sleep on all-star winger Joe Mullen who has a fantastic year. This is an awesome team who unfortunately, ran into a hot Capitals team in the playoffs. Quebec – definitely a step backwards, from the previous season, for this team. Largely due to Ron Hextall leaving and the team being forced to use Stephane Fiset who was not a suitable replacement. The loss of Owen Nolan, after only five games in, also hurt. Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin had solid years. A young Dman named Adam Foote would become one of the more solid defenders in the game but that was still a couple of years away AND, in another country/state. The franchise glory years would be “to come” but not as the Nordiques. San Jose – a “Cinderella story” or a “David and Goliath” story, in 1993-94. The eighth seed taking on the best team in the West (Detroit) and beating them in the playoffs. Then, nearly doing the same to a solid Maples Leafs team. Had Johan Garpenlov not hit the post, in overtime of game 6, they would have knocked off the Leafs. However, he did hit the post, Mike Gartner ends up scoring and tying up the series. Game 7 goes the Leafs way, as the Sharks ran out of gas, and that was "all she wrote." Arturs Irbe was great in 1993-94 and really helped carry this team at times. Sergei Makarov and Igor Larionov are fantastic forwards with tons of chemistry from their days of being part of the famed "KLM line" with Vladimir Krutov. Don’t “sleep” on this team. St.Louis – they lack forward depth which is why they constantly broke up the line of Shanahan-Janney-Hull which was always solid together. Brett Hull had several centers in 1993-94 including Jim Montgomery which was not ideal. However, Hull and Brandon Shanahan had awesome seasons as each had 50 or more goals. Kevin Miller had a solid season and was often paired with Shanahan and Janney. Shanny and Janney had great chemistry which made what would happen come next (post 93-94 season) more tragic… Shanny had an affair with and then stole Janney’s wife (Google it). The lack of scoring depth did them in during the playoffs when they got swept in round 1 by Dallas. The team has some solid offensive Dmen with Steve Duchesne and Phil Housley although neither is great in their own zone (especially the latter). Cujo (Curtis Joseph) is one of the most underrated goalies in the 90s. He just never got the credit he deserved despite putting up some great number. Tampa Bay – Brian Bradley is a somewhat underrated center and would be an all-star for the second straight season. Petr Klima and Denis Savard are also solid forwards to use. There isn’t much on the defensive side to write home about. Although, Chris Joseph is decent. Goaltending was an issue, in 1993-94, as well. However, Daren Puppa would end up being strong in net, for the team, in the late 90s. 1993-94 was just not their year. Toronto – definitely a strong team. The acquisition of Mike Gartner further strengthened a great core of stud forwards led by Doug Gilmour. Dave Andreychuk (despite his slow skating), Wendel Clark (who was very accurate in 93-94) and Nikolai Borschevsky are all great in the game. The team D is very solid and they had an exciting young goalie known as “Felix the Cat.” Vancouver – the defending Western Champs. While not as good a team as the Rangers, Devils and Red Wings, they are pretty well-balanced. Led by super-stud winger, Pavel Bure, this team was fun to watch in the 1994 playoffs. Kirk MacLean, while average during the regular season was solid throughout the playoffs and played a big part in why they made it to the Cup finals. Jyrki Lumme and Jeff Brown and both solid in the back end and Trevor Linden was a great leader, and solid center, for this team. Washington – Skilled forwards (Joe Juneau, Peter Bondra and Dmitri Khristich) provide plenty of offensive punch. The team also has a solid D core with Kevin Hatcher, Calle Johansson, Sylvian Cote and Joe Reekie. Their weakness is in net although, Don Beaupre was solid in the playoffs in round 1 and big reason why they beat the Penguins. He was “not so much” in round 2. Winnipeg – What a difference a year makes. Talk about taking a turn for the worse. This team did and was the second worst team in the league, in 1993-94. Losing Phil Housley to the Blues was a major hit as he played quite a role in Teemu Selanne’s rookie season for the ages. They had no one to replace his speed and puck handling skills from the backend. To further makes matters worse, Selanne was injured in the second half of the season. Goaltending and D were terrible, despite the acquisition of reliable Dman Dave Manson. Teppo Numminen was always an underrated, solid Dman but he had a terrible season (his worst) in 1993-94. The top line of Keith Tkachuk-Alexei Zhamnov-Teemu Selanne (when healthy) is fun to watch. They are also fun to play with in the game.

Fun 1993-94 season factoid... Cam Neely only played in 49 games before suffering a season-ending injury. At the time of injury, he had 50 goals!!! He actually scored #50 in game #44. Oh, what could have been!

Nice feedback! I appreciate it. Believe it or not, Oates lone weakness is his skating (well, and he was soft like melted butter). It hurt him when he was drafted. Lebeau also wasn’t a great speedster and was a bit overrated (stats don’t lie). Hence, why he couldn’t stick in MTL or ANA. Ended up in the Swiss League. He’s really known for one big year and some so-so years. For the Ducks, in 93-94, Bob Corkum is their “gun” (if you will) as he had a good year. Yates and Valk weren’t bad that year, either. I’m surprised that you didn’t catch what I did to Felix Potvin. I lowered his agility a bit as he had terrible lateral movement but great reflexes. That’s why he stayed so far back in the net. His glove hand (high) also became a liability In the 1994 playoffs. Vancouver very much exposed it and then the word was out. However, I left his glove and stick hands as 4s given his cat-like (see what I did there) reflexes. Not everyone will agree with how I rated stuff and that’s ok. Just know, a TON of research (way too many articles and scouting reports and sources to count) went into it. I’m open to suggestions though if enough folks agree. If you could, please hit me up about the splash screen distortion thing. I need a better understanding of what you mean and I’d rather do so offline. Thanks for the positive feedback! Hopefully, you enjoy the Flyers and that “Crazy 8s” line. They weren’t half bad pre-Legion of Doom. The injury to Lindros is what was the final coffin nail on their 94 playoff hopes.

Team and Player ratings spreadsheet has been posted to the OP.

Thanks @clockwise! What I can do is post the ratings spreadsheet here and if someone can put it on Google Drive, that would be cool! Cheers!

Hi All, A rom that I wanted to work on, for a while, is an update to the original/classic. A 1994 post trade deadline roster/playoffs edition, if you will. But, I also wanted it to have some of the look and feel of the original. It's important to note that some other folks have had a run at this concept rom, so I am not a pioneer. However, there are things that I wanted to do differently or, perhaps, be the first to do to the classic version. So, below is what you need to know about this rom. THE ROM * This is was created using WBOY’s 30 team rom. * It has the weight bug fix applied to it. I can also provide a version without it if requested (PM me). * The rom contains the 26 teams from the 1993-94 season plus the 1993 (Campbell & Wales) and 1994 (Eastern and Western) all-star teams. * It has the Clockwise helmet/sprite patch AND the original goalie crease, faceoff circles and no trapezoid. It does have coaches on the bench, officials in the penalty box area and the new red goal light graphics. A little of the old and a little of the new. NOTE: If you apply the helmet/sprite patch to any rom, it automatically assigns that rom the new/modern goalie crease and trapezoid. So, it had to be undone in this case. SPECIAL THANKS GOES TO JKline3 WHO HELPED "RESET" THE ROM TO HAVE THE ORIGINAL RINK LAYOUT USING HIS JEDI POWERS! He is a good soul who said he didn't want/need any credit. Well, too bad, you're getting it. You helped me with that particular request so that I could focus on everything else and make this happen. Thanks homie! * Unlike my recent/current season roms, I didn’t use the Smozoma patch for the edit lines rating bug/3 stars fix for this rom. I want to leave that up to folks to do themselves if they want it added in vs leave it like the original. * Unlike the original version, each team now has a structure of 14 forwards, 8 dmen and 2 goalies (with the exception of the all-star teams). THE PLAYERS * Much like my recent/current season roms, I added actual headshots of each NLC player. None have helmets or masks on, in their portraits. You get to see just how ugly these guys are and how bad the hair styles were back then (see Jagr, for example). I went with images circa 1992-1995. This was quite a chore to find these as the online images are mostly low rez scans. I did my best to clean them up. * Player Attributes are based off of end-of-season stats for the 1993-94 season. I edited all 624 players in one way or another. My 0-6 tier structure for attributes is very close to the original rom as far as distribution. I kept a side by side comparison spreadsheet when doing edits. * Like my modern era/current season roms, shot accuracy and pass accuracy are based on “per game” stats, not season % (as there is no season mode). Offensive awareness is based on points per game. Unlike my recent/current season roms, this version is strictly based on 1993-94 stats. I didn’t do a 3 year average as I do with my modern era ROMs. * Rosters are post-trade deadline. * As Cam Neely and Pat Lafontaine, to name a few, didn’t play in the 1994 playoffs, due to injuries, they are not in the active line-ups if you use line changes. They are, however, in the 5v5 NLC mode. * Several missing players and some rookies have been added. A name like Nathan Lafayette may not mean much to you but to many Ranger fans he made many of our hearts stop, in the third period of game 7 of the Finals, when he “hit the post!” He was not in the original version. THE TEAMS * Teams are ranked by the order of how they finished for 1993-94. Same goes for OFF and DEF team ratings as well as PP, PK, Home and Away. You can review these by using EARE. * Lines and d-pairings are confirmed as having been used, at some point, during the final months of the 1993-94 season and/or playoffs. A lot of research went into this detail which included watching a ton of old game footage. Feel free to change them as you see fit. * While jersey layouts don't mirror the actual versions, in several cases, the colors that I used are pretty close to the official team colors. I used two websites that provide official team RGB colors, per season, so that I could match them up (as much as possible) in NOSE. Helmets, as mentioned earlier, are corrected due to the patch. THE PLAYOFF BRACKETS * I included the playoff brackets for 1993-94. I also created a second set of brackets that include the ten teams that didn’t make it into the playoffs. THE ART * Center ice and team selection logos are the official team logos for the 1993-94 season. Unlike the original, the center ice logos are NOT stretched to add more detail. They are they official sized logos. * New title screen art. Hmmmm... I wonder why I chose this particular image? I hope that you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed working on it. It was fun to relive this special season. If you see any mistakes, please let me know. Cheers! Version with 99 Minute OT (except for Playoff Mode) NHL94 Playoff Edition.bin Version with 10 Minute OT NHL94 Playoff Edition - 10 Min OT.bin Player Ratings NHL94 Team and Player Ratings.zip

I think that @clockwise hit the nail in the head... gamers want the fun of gameplay and the competitiveness that comes with it. They want to play as athletes/teams that they know/follow. The logos are a nice touch, and I get how one can get obsessed with tweaking them. But, some logos are impossible to make perfect given their level of detail. At the end of the day, just make it recognizable to where you know it’s a particular team(s) logo when you see it.