NHL 2003 is the eleventh edition of the popular EA Sports

EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...

 NHL series

NHL series

NHL is a series of professional ice hockey simulation video games developed by EA Canada and published yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand...

, a hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 video game, released on the successor to NHL 2002

NHL 2002

- External links :* *...

. Jarome Iginla

Jarome Iginla

Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . A six-time NHL All-Star, he is the Flames' all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, and is second in assists to Al MacInnis...

 appears as the cover athlete and spokesperson of the game. Iginla appears in the Behind The Scenes video to show the player how the game was made.

Features

NHL 2003 introduced a new feature, the GameBreaker. It is activated once a player performs enough "dekes" and it is used to help change the momentum of the game, such as scoring a big goal, delivering a big hit or winning a big fight.

Commentary

The commentary in NHL 2003 is voiced by Jim Hughson

Jim Hughson

Jim Hughson is a Canadian sportscaster, best known for his play-by-play of professional ice hockey and baseball.-Biography:...

 and Don Taylor

Don Taylor (Canadian sportscaster)

Don Taylor is a Canadian television and radio sportscaster.He currently hosts Rogers Sportsnet Pacific's nightly sports news program Sportsnet Connected and also co-hosts the weekday afternoon radio show BMac and Taylor on The Team 1040.Taylor is known for his canned delivery of the nightly sports...

. Hughson has been the NHL series announcer since NHL '97, while Taylor first appeared in the previous year's version.

NHL cards

Returning from NHL 2002

NHL 2002

- External links :* *...

is a feature called NHL Cards. They are EA custom cards with most of the NHL player names on them. There are tasks at each difficulty setting: beginner, easy, medium, and difficult. The tasks are simple as getting a goal

Goal (ice hockey)

In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to...

, to get a hat trick with 2 players. They are accomplished by doing the tasks in only one game. You would get the most out of it for playing a 60-minute game. Another is beating team Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 with Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in International mode. There are many different ones, including some in a season, playoffs, and International mode.

There are over 180 cards in the game. There are three types of cards: celebration cards, cheat cards, and most of the pro NHL players. The regular cards for the game that include most of the players of the 02–03 NHL season. They show most players in action, while some show still pictures of their face. They are used for an extra skill boost in 1, 2, or 3 periods depending on the color of the border of the card. (Bronze for 1 period, silver for 2, gold for 3.) Some decrease opponent's skills for 1, 2 or 3 periods, like the player cards.

This feature is found only on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube version.

Soundtrack

NHL 2003 Soundtrack
Artist	Song
Blindside Blindside Blindside is a post-hardcore band from Tumba, Sweden. They formed in 1994 as Underfree and kept that name for two years before releasing their debut EP in 1996.-A Thought Crushed My Mind:...	"Pitiful"
Celldweller Celldweller Celldweller is a Detroit, Michigan-based Electronic Rock project that was created by multi-instrumentalist Klayton, former frontman and songwriter of the bands Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Angeldust . Celldweller's music is multi-faceted, often labeled electronic rock and more commonly being...	"Stay With Me (Unlikely)"
Dead Star Hotel	"Frustrated"
Default Default (band) Default is a Canadian post-grunge/alternative rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Since forming in 1999 they have released four albums, and have sold more than a million records...	"Deny Deny (Default song) "Deny" is a song by Canadian post-grunge band Default and the second single from their 2001 debut album, The Fallout. It reached #7 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and was featured on the video game NHL 2003. "Deny" is recognizable for its aggressive, hard-hitting style in contrast to the more... "
Default Default (band) Default is a Canadian post-grunge/alternative rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Since forming in 1999 they have released four albums, and have sold more than a million records...	"Slow Me Down"
Dragpipe	"Simple Minded"
Greenwheel Greenwheel Greenwheel is an American alternative rock band formed by friends Ryan Jordan, Brandon Armstrong, Andrew Dwiggins, Douglas Randall, and Marc Wanninger in November 1998. The band was formed in St. Charles, Missouri in a local record shop. This group of high school bandmates were originally called...	"Strong"
Gob Gob (band) Gob is a Canadian punk band from Langley, British Columbia formed in 1993, The Band consists of Tom Thacker, Theo Goutzinakis, Gabe Mantle and Steven Fairweather. Gob's most successful album is World According to Gob and their most successful song to date is I Hear You Calling...	"I've Been Up These Steps"
Gob Gob (band) Gob is a Canadian punk band from Langley, British Columbia formed in 1993, The Band consists of Tom Thacker, Theo Goutzinakis, Gabe Mantle and Steven Fairweather. Gob's most successful album is World According to Gob and their most successful song to date is I Hear You Calling...	"Sick With You"
Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....	"Sweetness"
M.ill.ion M.ill.ion M.ill.ion is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in 1989 in Gothenburg by bass player B.J. Laneby. They had toured with bands as Magnum, Nazareth, Oliver/Dawson Saxon, Michael Schenker Group, Waysted among others. They got small promotion through MTV in the early 90's. Their debut album No...	"Showstopper"
Papa Roach Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album Infest . The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy , their platinum album Getting Away with Murder , The Paramour Sessions , and Metamorphosis...	"She Loves Me Not She Loves Me Not (song) "She Loves Me Not" is the first single from Californian rock band Papa Roach's third album, Lovehatetragedy, and fourth released single in total. Originally written as part of 5 track promo/demo CD funded by Warner Bros. Records in 1999, "She Loves Me Not" was re-recorded and improved for its new... "
Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...	"No One Knows No One Knows "No One Knows" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age written by band members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. It was the first single and second track from their third album, Songs for the Deaf, and was released on November 26, 2002. "No One Knows" was a chart success, becoming the... "
Trapt Trapt Trapt is an American rock band that formed in Los Gatos, California in August 1997. The group is composed of lead singer Chris Taylor Brown, lead guitarist Robb Torres, bass guitarist Peter Charell, and drummer Aaron "Monty" Montgomery...	"Headstrong Headstrong (Trapt song) "Headstrong" is the debut single from the band Trapt and the lead single from their self-titled debut album. It reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts and #16 on the U.S. pop chart, as well as #1 on the singles recurrent charts... "
Treble Charger Treble Charger Treble Charger was a Canadian rock group, consisting of vocalist Greig Nori, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Trevor MacGregor. Guitarist Bill Priddle, a founding member of the band, left in 2003. They began with a melodic indie rock style, but evolved into more of a pop punk band after signing to...	"Hundred Million Hundred Million "Hundred Million" is the first and most popular single from Treble Charger's fourth album, Detox. The song features backing vocals by Deryck Whibley and percussion by Steve Jocz, both from Sum 41. This was the band's last successful single before their break-up... "

However, only 3 songs from the soundtrack made it into the PC version, "She Loves Me Not"

She Loves Me Not (song)

"She Loves Me Not" is the first single from Californian rock band Papa Roach's third album, Lovehatetragedy, and fourth released single in total. Originally written as part of 5 track promo/demo CD funded by Warner Bros. Records in 1999, "She Loves Me Not" was re-recorded and improved for its new...

, "Sweetness"

Sweetness (song)

"Sweetness" is a single by Jimmy Eat World from their 2001 album, Bleed American. The song was also featured on the soundtrack for the EA Sports video game NHL 2003...

 and "Deny"

Deny (Default song)

"Deny" is a song by Canadian post-grunge band Default and the second single from their 2001 debut album, The Fallout. It reached #7 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and was featured on the video game NHL 2003. "Deny" is recognizable for its aggressive, hard-hitting style in contrast to the more...

, the reason for this is unknown.