Nearly a decade later EA Sports is still going strong with the recent release of the latest in their award winning franchise, NHL 2003, and while technological enhancements and bells and whistles have been added, it is still the same solid game I fell in love with eight years ago.

NHL 2003 gives you the opportunity to play as your favorite NHL stars in a variety of modes. Here you will find the standard single game, playoffs, tournament, and the time-gouging season modes that let you pick your team and take the road to the Stanley Cup. Everything is pretty standard as far as modes go. It is in the game where things count, and NHL 2003 is firing on all cylinders.

EA Canada has done a lot to make you feel as if you are actually part of the game. From being able to play manager and making decisions to controlling your players on the ice, you get the experience of playing a complete hockey game from the pre-game warm-ups to the post-game celebration. Once you are on the ice you will find fluid animations, expressive player faces, and real hockey moves in the way of the new “deke stick” that gives you the ability to perform a variety of different “puck fakes” to trick out your opposing players. These fakes are enacted by flipping the secondary analog stick on your controller. By doing this multiple times during the game your GameBreaker power-up meter (located in the lower right hand side of the screen) will eventually fill up. Once it does you will be awarded a GameBreaker which you can use at any time. Usually you want to use this when driving to the goal, hit your breaker, and watch as everything goes in slow-motion giving you the added advantage of being able to score.

Other options that you will find returning to the game are EA’s NHL Cards program and points system. During the game you are awarded points for completing different objectives, such as win 5 face-offs in one period, or score a goal with two different players. After you accomplish these goals the points you are given can be used to buy packs of cards, much like you would today when collecting baseball cards. You can then use these cards on your players (if you own them) to give them special abilities and functions on the team. While sounding cheap, it is surprisingly addictive to buy the packs of cards and fill up your portfolio.

When it comes to sound EA’s highly touted Trax system plays out very nicely. During the course of the game, and on menus, you will hear cuts of songs from some of today’s biggest artists including Papa Roach, Trapt, GOB, and Sum 41. My only complaint with this option is most of the time you don’t get to hear anything more than a few lines from the song before you are thrown back into the action, which is disappointing considering that NHL 2003 has the strongest line up of tracks when compared to the paltry mix included in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 which has to have the worst line-up of all of EA’s games that include this new feature.

With any sports game the color commentary can make or break the experience. NHL 2003’s commentary is actually quite good, on paper, but when delivered during the game it feels more like a horrible comedy routine than anything else. The skybox announcer is the funniest guy in the entire game and you can only hear one sentence from him at the end of each period. Play by play is done very well and accurate as most of the player’s names are spoken in the game, but when the two announcers try to show their personality I showed them the mute button.

As I mentioned before animation is fluid and the motion capturing looks great, overall the graphics are nothing to scoff at, but nothing with an overt “Wow” factor either, they get the job done, plain and simple.

One added bonus to the game is extras which let you go back behind the scenes of different parts of development. The most entertaining is the aptly titled “Behind the Scenes” which is nothing more than a huge praising commercial for the game, but it does give you a glimpse into the offices of EA Canada and show how things get done.

The added features and modes are fine and dandy from where I sit, but I have always picked the game up to get my groove on in a full season of Coyotes’ hockey so that is where I was prepared to jump right in and go. As usual, EA’s game takes way too many blocks on a memory card to make it reasonable, but it doesn’t keep it from being fun. Whether I’m tearing up the ice in this updated version of a classic, or playing the classic itself, hockey is hockey, and NHL 2003 is good hockey. If you can find a few friends, some extra controllers, and a bag of Chex Mix Cheddar you have a hockey night activity that will keep you entertained for years to come, or at least till next fall when we can expect the venerable NHL 2004 to be released.