It has been my experience that sports video games are either really great or they suck beyond belief. For once, it looks like we can look forward to the first item versus the latter…

The only way to experience hockey during the season-long NHL lockout was via video games. This year, with the NHL back on ice and attendance and goal-scoring up, the new-look NHL offers the perfect excuse to upgrade your video game hockey. In fact, the new NHL plays a lot more like the NHL video games with its offensive-oriented title.

One negative with this year’s batch of NHL games is the lack of updated rosters because of the shortened free agent signing period post-lockout. But new rosters can be downloaded for all of these games if you have online connections. With three games vying for your dollars, we put EA Sports, 2K Sports and Sony 989 Sports through the playoffs to pick this year’s virtual Stanley Cup winner. [Read the rest]