Matt Carle Provides Input On Hockey Video Game

(left) DU Alum Matt Carle at the release of the 2K Sports Hockey Video Game

2K Sports released NHL 2K7 and they invited former DU defenseman Matt Carle, and some of the top game players/reviewers in the country, to get some feedback on this release, the future PS3 release and NHL 2K8.

It was a four-hour session that included game playing and the exchanging of ideas. The one thing that everybody in the room had in common was their passion for hockey and hockey videogames.

We all reminisced a bit about some of our favorite hockey games of the past and the one that kept coming up was NHL Open Ice and there is a feature in the game that gives you that feeling so look for that.

Carle brought in an important defensive perspective that sometimes gets overlooked in videogames. He gave the room an idea of what his assignment was in the playoffs last season against Nashville - - always keep an eye on Paul Kariya.

Then he walked over to the white board and outlined all of the possible defensive alignments for the various short handed situations like 5-on-3 and even 6-on-4 (wonder if he gave away DU's secret 6 on 3 defensive scheme against Maine in the 2004 National Championship game?).

What was his favorite part of the game?

“The skating looks really realistic,” he said after previously mentioning that he likes to play run-n-gun hockey and loves to lay big hits on players.

Carle also recorded various phrases and “hockey chatter” that will find it’s way into the game sometime in the future.

Every person in the room had something to offer about the videogame and hockey in general. It was a real hockey “think tank.”

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