The animations are likewise impressive when viewed close. The developers have captured the essence of the sport with the variety of animations, including poke checks, hip checks, slap shots, and spectacular saves by the goalies. Unlike the player models, you can still recognize animations from the distant cameras. For some reason, however, animations take a dive when players fight. You'd be hard pressed to recognize a jab or uppercut in the brief shows of machismo.
Stadiums look great.
Prior to a game, a detailed photo of the home stadium or town is shown. It sets the stage for stadiums which include details such as working scoreboards, a nice looking crowd, bannered boards, and even rafters. The Fleet Center in Boston was impressive with the many Bruins flags hanging from the rafters. When I first started playing the game, I was about to throw my controller. On several occasions I swear the CPU was offsides.