NHL 17 First Impressions: Stadium Creator Mode

While you can’t actually play any hockey in this mode, Stadium Creator Mode in NHL 17 allows you to create an authentic NHL stadium your way.

Every sports fan, no matter what sport, has wanted to design their own arena.  Now, NHL 17 will allow hockey fans to do just that.  This mode was a very nice touch in the demo and is very promising.

You start with a blank arena, and from there you can customize everything, and I mean everything.  Seat style, colors of all the parts of the seats, the color of the walls and stairs, the Jumbotron style, and much, much more.  Even the jerseys, gear, and the logo of the team that’ll play there.

Here’s a closer look at some examples of what you can accomplish with the NHL 17 Stadium Creator. As you can imagine, this is a better look at the Amalie Arena, home of our very own Tampa Bay Lightning.

Along with your arena, you are able to design the jerseys of the team that is to play there.  For my team, I went with a lighter blue and an electric yellow to branch out from the normal dark blue and white of the actual Tampa Bay Lightning uniforms, but still maintain the Lightning theme.  A nice touch is the ability to customize the gear your skaters and even goalies use.

I’ve always had a soft spot for goalies.  Of course, I love to see big hits from defenders and goals from forwards that leave you wondering how they did it, but without a strong netminder a team can never be great,

That being said, goalies are usually one of the most underappreciated and overlooked players on the ice.  A perfect example of this is the clip art cut-and-paste mask designs in the rest of the game.

While you can’t customize masks in this mode either, you have control of just about everything else.  Stick, glove, blocker, leg pads, everything.  The leg pads have almost 30 points of articulation alone, meaning that you can make the gear look exactly how you want it to top to bottom.  I loved the ability to really make the jerseys your own and all of the articulate detail put into this.

Once I finished with my jerseys and had my team’s logo and colors set, I really dug into my arena. Navigation to the customization of the different parts of the arena are simplistic and functional and there is no lack of options for you to choose from.

You even have the option to customize your stadium’s signature effect that happens before the game and when goals are scored.  To my delight, and the delight of Tampa Bay Lightning fans everywhere, the Lightning’s Tesla Coils are an option.

On the topic of scoring goals, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s goal horn is finally in the game and a choice when you are customizing your arena.

I was thoroughly impressed with this mode overall.  The articulate detail that went into making this an authentic experience is impressive and the ability to customize every detail of your arena and team, from top to bottom, is incredible.

The one downside of this is that you don’t actually get to play in your jerseys or arena.  I’m sure this is already in the works as you were able to assign a roster to your arena also.  I’d love to see this as a feature of Hockey Ultimate Team so you are able to really make it your team instead of using preset arenas and jerseys.

Next: NHL 17 First Impressions: Online Versus Mode

If you’d like to see the remainder of the screenshots from the Stadium Creator Mode or any of the other screenshots from the NHL 17 Beta, make sure to head over to our Facebook page and remember to stay tuned to Bolts By The Bay for all things Tampa Bay Lightning.