Guildford, UK. — Electronic Arts announced on August 29, 2012, that for the first time ever in a professional league simulation sports video game, EA Sports NHL 13 has added female athletes as playable characters.

Former Team USA superstar Angela Ruggiero will join former Team Canada great Hayley Wickenheiser, both four-time Olympic Ice Hockey medalists, as playable legends in NHL 13. NHL Hall of Famers Doug Gilmour, Jari Kurri, and NHL legend Dominik Hasek will also be added to the roster of legends which includes the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

The NHL 13 demo is available for download now via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Promising the biggest year on year innovation to the franchise on this console generation, NHL 13 will be available on September 11, 2012 in North America and September 14, 2012 in Europe.

The addition of women’s hockey legends as playable characters within the EA Sports NHL franchise is the continuation of a commitment that the development team made to create greater representation for women’s hockey beginning with NHL 12.

“With the release of NHL 12 we added generic female characters in our Be a Pro mode based on a request from a 14-yr old female fan who emailed our staff because she felt underrepresented as a hockey videogame fan,” saidDean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA Sports .“This year we are very excited to continue our effort of creating a more representative experience for female hockey fans by adding two of the greatest female athletes to ever play the game in Wickenheiser and Ruggiero to NHL 13.”

“The EA Sports NHL franchise took a big step last year by including female characters to create a more inclusive experience for female hockey fans,” said Hayley Wickenheiser. “I’m excited to be a part of NHL 13 and hope that the addition of women’s hockey legends will encourage greater participation in hockey from young women everywhere.”

Legends Integration in NHL 13

Legends in NHL 13 will be integrated across several modes:

• Be A Legend – gamers will experience the glory of playing their entire Be A Pro career as a legend as they attempt to shatter the most impressive records in hockey, achieve legendary milestones and complete legends tasks.
• Legends teams – Play as the legends team, Team Ruggiero or Team Wickenheiser, which are comprised of legends and current NHL greats in head-to-head play – within Play Now, Online and Battle for the Cup modes. Players on Team Ruggiero and Team Wickenheiser were selected by each athlete, respectively.
• Hockey Ultimate Team & Be a GM –Gamers will have the ability to add legends to any team roster in Be a GM mode, or collect ultra-rare legends cards and use them within their Hockey Ultimate Team experience.

Headlined by all - new True Performance Skating, and supported by an innovative new A.I. system dubbed EA Sports Hockey I.Q., NHL 13 will deliver a revamped gameplay experience that accurately captures the speed, creativity and strategy of NHL hockey.

In addition, NHL 13 will also deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and the real world of hockey with the all-new GM Connected and NHL Moments Live modes.

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Seven games were played this Columbus Day and brought us several exciting endings and unexpected turnouts. Here is a review of the games that were played on Monday October 10.

Tampa Bay Lightning 5:6 Washington Capitals

Both teams scored two goals in the first period; Teddy Purcell and Bruno Gervais scored for Tampa Bay, while Marcus Johansson and Dennis Wideman scored for Washington. Dominic Moore scored for Tampa Bay one minute into the second period, while Washington’s Troy Brouwer scored three minutes later to tie the game up at three goals apiece.

Four more goals were scored in the third period, with Jason Chimera scoring twice for Washington while Nate Thompson and Brett Clark scored for Tampa Bay. After a game that ended with both teams scoring five goals each, Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin scored during the shootout to give the Washington Capitals the win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Vancouver Canucks 3:2 Columbus Blue Jackets

An exciting game led to the Vancouver Canucks coming from behind in the third period to win their first game of the season, while the Columbus Blue Jackets watched their chance to get their first win slip through their fingertips. Columbus took the lead after two periods, with Cam Atkinson and Vinny Prospal helping put the puck in the back of the net.

Chris Higgins kept Vancouver in the game, scoring in the first period and keeping the teams’ one goal apart. Winning by a goal, Columbus was given a penalty shot and a chance to secure the victory in the third period. However, goaltender Cory Schneider was able to stop the shot for Vancouver and gave them the morale boost they needed to get two goals in the third period.

One goal was by Cody Hodgson, and the other was a power-play goal by Alexandre Burrows. Columbus continues a three game losing streak going home to play the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.

Phoenix Coyotes 1:2 Dallas Stars

No goals were scored in the first or second period; however, both teams were able to score in the third period and bring the game into a shootout. A power-play goal from Radim Vrbata gave the Coyotes the lead six minutes into the third period, while Loui Eriksson was able to tie the game up with a goal for the Stars only 30 seconds away from the end of the game.

Mike Ribeiro was able to get the puck past Phoenix Coyotes’ goalkeeper Mike Smith in the final shot of the first shootout round, giving the Dallas Stars their second win of the season.

Colorado Avalanche 1:0 Boston Bruins

After a hard fought battle that kept the game goalless through two periods, the Colorado Avalanche were finally able to capitalize on a scoring chance late into the third period to get the win over the struggling Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

Colorado’s Milan Hedjuk was able to put the puck past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask with 12 minutes left in the third period. Also, Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots in the game to get his fifth career shutout. Tuukka Rask stopped 35 shots in the game; however, his terrific night in net will not be shown in the standings for the Boston Bruins.

Carolina Hurricanes 2:4 New Jersey Devils

Ilya Kovalchuk was a key factor in three goals scored on Monday, which helped take the New Jersey Devils to their first victory of the season. New Jersey’s Zach Parise scored twice off passes from Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias. Carolina came back with goals in the second period by Alexei Ponikarovsky and Chad LaRose.

However, as the teams were tied going into the third period, the Devils were able to score once six minutes into the period and again during a power-play in the final minutes of the game. New Jersey goaltender Johan Hedberg, the usual backup for Martin Brodeur, received his first start and win to the season on Monday. Hedberg saw 26 shots, while Carolina goaltender Cam Ward saw 25 shots.

Minnesota Wild 1:2 New York Islanders

The New York Islanders were able to hold on to a two goal victory against the Minnesota Wild on Monday by scoring two goals in the first period and defending lifelessly for the rest of the game.

Andrew MacDonald and Frans Nielsen both scored off passes from P.A. Parenteau in the first half of the first period. The rest of the game was a different story, with the New York Islanders playing shorthanded for 16 minutes due to unnecessary penalties and mistakes. Islanders goaltender Al Montoya got  his second straight start over Rick DiPietro, making 20 saves and helping secure their first win of the season.

Calgary Flames 2:5 St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues got their first win of the season, while giving the Calgary Flames their second loss of the season. Calgary was the first to get on the scoreboard with a goal from Curtis Glencross. Alex Steen was able to tie it up with a little more than two minutes left in the first period.

Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo were able to give St. Louis a two goal lead with five minutes left in the second period, until a power-play goal from Jarome Iginla brought Calgary just one goal behind going into the third period. St. Louis had the final say in the game, with Chris Stewart and Jason Arnott getting a goal apiece to give St. Louis the win.

St. Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak only took on 17 shots today, compared to Calgary goalkeeper Henrik Karlsson, who got 35 shots.

Marty Ellis / Shutterstock.com

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