A new generation of talent led by Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine has not only energized the NHL, it has forced video game developers to up their game.

sa国际传媒淣HL 18,sa国际传媒� the made-in-Vancouver hockey title out Friday, features an array of slick moves including one-handed dekes, puck flips and between-the-leg shots and passes.

sa国际传媒淥ur goal this year is really to capture the speed, the skill and the creativity that yousa国际传媒檙e seeing in the new NHL with all those young player coming in,sa国际传媒� game producer Sean Ramjagsingh said in an interview.

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sa国际传媒� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)

Itsa国际传媒檚 not just a tribute to the young guns. Ramjagsingh reels off a list of moves including the (Peter) Forsberg tuck and the (Pavel) Datsyuk flip.

In the past, Ramjagsingh had been reluctant to include such glitz because he felt hard-core fans would think they were too rare or arcade-like. The new generation of player has changed that.

sa国际传媒淏ut now yousa国际传媒檙e seeing those kids pulling those moves off at high speeds strategically to create new passing lanes or to get shots off in traffic. So theysa国际传媒檙e part of the sport, you see them every night as part of the highlight package.

sa国际传媒淪o for us, we saw that and used it as an inspiration for sa国际传媒楴HL 18,sa国际传媒� bringing those moves into the game.sa国际传媒�

Ramjagsingh says the special moves are sa国际传媒渆asy to learn how to pull off, but difficult to master in the right situation at game-speed.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淣HL 18sa国际传媒� features the fledgling Las Vegas Golden Knights. You can play as the real team or build it from scratch yourself. You can also create a 32nd team in another city sa国际传媒� your own expansion franchise, complete with logo, name and everything else associated with a new franchise.

The arrival of the Knights forced developers to revamp some of the game framework.

sa国际传媒淭he way our game was developed, the code itself wasnsa国际传媒檛 meant to handle more than 30 teams,sa国际传媒� said Ramjagsingh, who has been with EA Sports since 2000 and was first involved with the franchise with sa国际传媒楴HL 09.sa国际传媒�

Developers headed down to Las Vegas to take pictures of T-Mobile Arena from just about every angle to be able to recreate the Knightssa国际传媒� new home. Edmontonsa国际传媒檚 Rogers Place had previously got the same treatment.

sa国际传媒淔or us building an arena in the game is almost like building an arena in real life, in terms of the way that we build it sa国际传媒� looking at the schematics of it, building the geometry out and then putting the textures in to make it look (like) the right colour, the right fabrics inside the arena.sa国际传媒�

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press