This mode was where I spent the majority of my time with NHL 17. This includes maintaining and upgrading a stadium which means you’re setting concession stand prices, raising and lowering ticket prices and even moving the team when the opportunity arises. Matches play out like they would in any other mode so the real draw here is teambuilding and the Hockey Ultimate Team rewards.įranchise mode is always the most robust of these game modes however, as it has you pick an NHL team to manage for a season. You’re only given rewards upon reaching the required 4 wins, and these rewards all feed into the Hockey Ultimate Team mode. This includes past Stanley Cup Champions and all star players so you’re not limited to just the current NHL roster. You can choose between four different themes that dictate which players are made available to you and which base team is given to you. The big difference with this and Hockey Ultimate Team is the addition of themes. It’s been a hit with the Madden crowd, and seeing it implemented here adds some depth to the core experience. This mode is good if you want to just play a few consecutive matches without having to play through a whole season or career, but it’s not a mode you’ll spend much time in unless you really care about the international teams included.ĭraft Champions is a fantasy draft mode where you draft a team and either play against the AI or real players in an attempt to win four consecutive games.

You’ll select a team from one of many leagues from around the world to compete in a tournament where you can take control of as many teams as you wish. This year the series has included the World Cup of Hockey, which returns in real life as well.

The staggering amount of single-player content in NHL 17 has something for even the most inexperienced players. Its simple controls for beginners and unobtrusive tutorial system make it a very accessible game that still has a lot of depth. At the end of the day the hockey matches are what really matters, and NHL 17 is surprisingly easy to jump in and out of even in the mode dedicated full season and career modes. Making sure the bathrooms were in good repair to making sure the hot dogs were affordable was actually the most fun I’ve ever had in a sports game, even though all the time spent managing prices was mostly inconsequential. That’s exactly where I spent the vast majority of my time with NHL 17, however. Managing an entire hockey team while keeping up repairs and expanding on an entire stadium seems like the last thing I would want to do in a game.

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