Here at Frozen Faceoff, we strive for accuracy on center ice graphics, and when I start playing NHL 13, the center ice designs have some eye catching flaws. I don't want to sound as if I am bashing EA Sports on this, because they have improved greatly in the presentation department, and they can't fix everything in one year. The improvements that they made last year made NHL 13 an awesome game in my opinion. My hope is that NHL 14 is the year that all the center ice designs are accurate along with the red lines. Here I will show some of the necessary corrections to make this possible. Please keep in mind, EA Sports does not always have the rights to display arena names for some rinks. This is not their fault, but rather the fault of team and/or arena officials for not signing off on the paperwork. In these cases they have to put in a fake name that is not in any way similar to the real text on the ice.
I was surprised to see that they got First Niagara Center naming rights for NHL 13. Usually banks are pretty iffy on whether or not they allow their name in the game. This year the text has changed a bit as you will see below.
My only beef with this ice is the red line. Stars were only used in 2010/11 season when they had the anniversary logo.
This rink seems to have been neglected for a few years now. No arena name or faked arena name, no black boxes in the red line, and though its not related to ice graphics, I still want to mention the horribly outdated scoreboard.
At the very least, they need to get the red line corrected. It is iconic with the Hurricanes as it is the Hurricane Warning Flag symbol. Also, it is the only rink they left without text and it reminds me of NHL 94.
Here is an alternative idea if they can not secure arena naming rights.
I feel like I am nitpicking on this one but this ice bothers me quite a bit really. I understand they have to fake the arena name until they get the rights to use the real one, but the red line is wrong and the Blackhawk logo is a bit too big and is touching the red line. It all gives me a very vintage feel. Would also like to see the arena text a bit bigger or moved to surround more of the circle, but that's just a personal preference.
This ice just needs to have the arena name changed to upper and lower case letters, and "Xcel" should be made bold.
This ice could use some work with the red line as well as some white space separating the Isles logo from the red line.
Here is an ice that feels so wrong. Its a shame that EA can't use the correct arena name anymore, again not their fault, but I do hope they will update the rest of the center ice for NHL 14. Red line needs some work too. Below is the actual ice design and my suggestion for a fake name alternate if they need it.
This is probably wont of my favorite fake text graphics as the SAN JOSE SHARKS text surrounds the sides of the circle and is in the correct color. The color may need to be updated this year as the real life text has changed. The only issue I have with this ice is the red line.
The ice is mostly accurate but the Blues Logo should not be navy blue, instead more of a royal blue. Also the arena name could be closer to the circle and should be purple and gray.
My only complaint with this ice is that the red line is not very accurate. This is a bit surprising as this is pretty much the hometown favorite up there at EA Canada. Although the red line had diagonals in it before, just a different ice, now they have changed their red line completely. For this abbreviated season, they are just using a solid red line.
Finally I will list the rest of the improvements or updates that could help improve the accuracy of the rest of the center ices.
Boston - using a solid red line this season.
Calgary - new arena text layout and "C"s in the red line....
Colorado - "CENTER" font should be changed to something more basic.
Columbus - Bold, black font for arena text.
Tampa Bay - They changed up their red line a bit. I have to say I am a huge fan of the fact that EA does not put anniversary logos in the game. While some may disagree, I just feel it dates the game, and usually they do not know what the ices will look like in time anyway.If you work for EA and should happen to be viewing this article, which is my goal, I would invite you to check out http://frozennhl.blogspot.com/search/label/2013 and use those graphics as reference. We would love to see the ices look fully authentic in NHL 14!
Here is a little site that I made that involves a lot of fake arena name concepts. They are not based on actual arena name designs and layouts (as EA has to be careful) but they are unique and a bit more creative than the fake text put in NHL 13. http://frozenfakes.blogspot.com/