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A few years ago the NHL suffered a lockout which caused the sport to lose an entire season of play and put the playing futures of many players in jeopardy.
Much like the NFL and NBA lockouts of 2011, the NHL lockout put the focus firmly on the gaming side of things with the only way able to gain hockey action that year was to play a game.
Once the NHL returned to the rink, it was widely reported that the NHL found the continuing relationship with EA invaluable as it kept the NHL in fans minds during that lockout and since that day, NHL has been getting better and better with EA producing what is (and what will most likely continue to be) the leading hockey sim around.
Full story at Tweak Town.