EA Sports' NHL 13 Team And Player Rankings Give Blues Decent Marks

I'm always concerned whenever one of EA Sports' NHL games comes out, or at least as concerned as one can be about their favorite team's ratings in a video game. I think that part of it is seeing laid out in numerical form the fact that the team doesn't have a legit superstar, or top-shelf scorer. It's the same this year of course, but the team ratings are actually pretty well reflective of the Blues. I can't complain.

First off, for those who're familiar with EA Sports' ratings of teams and players, it's different this season. The players are judged more so on abilities at a position and less on abilities as their role (sniper, enforcer, etc.). The team ratings are also slightly different. Instead of an overall score on a 100 point range, they're now on a 1-5 rating basis.

The Blues are rated a 4.0 for offense, a 4.5 on defense, and a 4.5 on goaltending. That's hard to argue with. Goaltending and defense is what gives the team's wins. While the offense has the potential to be fairly potent if everyone's firing on all cylinders, it appears that EA's taken Matt D'Agostini's disappearing act and Chris Stewart's identity crisis to heart.

The top rated players for the Blues? No one cracks the 90 point mark, but if I remember correctly no one cracked that mark on NHL:12, either. Top of the pops is Alex Pietrangelo with an overall 87 rating, followed by Jaroslav Halak (85), and David Backes, David Perron, T.J. Oshie, and Kevin Shattenkirk at an overall 84.

Quibbles with this rating system? I'm pretty sure folks'll have them, but if it reflects the balance of the team, then so be it. Something that does surprise me is that Andy McDonald's rating isn't above an 84. He does tend to miss playing time, but his skills are still pretty well high end.