The NHL series used to be great, especially on the PS2. The gameplay has been terrible on the current gen until, according to the reviews, this year. Madden, Fifa, MLB the Show and NBA 2K all improve every year. EA puts no money into this game. Getting roster updates is almost impossible yet Madden has new lines of dialogue implemented every week. They are only adding features each year that have been there before and selling them as new.
This may sound trivial to most of you, but the removal of the team specific music this year (they were all in the game last year) really bums me out. I'm still picking the game up tomorrow since the reviews are good, but my expectations aren't as high as I'd like.