A new generation of talent led by Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine has not only energized the NHL, it has forced video game developers to up their game.

含羞草研究社淣HL 18,含羞草研究社� the made-in-Vancouver hockey title out Friday, features an array of slick moves including one-handed dekes, puck flips and between-the-leg shots and passes.

含羞草研究社淥ur goal this year is really to capture the speed, the skill and the creativity that you含羞草研究社檙e seeing in the new NHL with all those young player coming in,含羞草研究社� game producer Sean Ramjagsingh said in an interview.

launches today! We've got some copies to give away, RT this for a chance to win. trailer here:

含羞草研究社� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)

It含羞草研究社檚 not just a tribute to the young guns. Ramjagsingh reels off a list of moves including the (Peter) Forsberg tuck and the (Pavel) Datsyuk flip.

In the past, Ramjagsingh had been reluctant to include such glitz because he felt hard-core fans would think they were too rare or arcade-like. The new generation of player has changed that.

含羞草研究社淏ut now you含羞草研究社檙e seeing those kids pulling those moves off at high speeds strategically to create new passing lanes or to get shots off in traffic. So they含羞草研究社檙e part of the sport, you see them every night as part of the highlight package.

含羞草研究社淪o for us, we saw that and used it as an inspiration for 含羞草研究社楴HL 18,含羞草研究社� bringing those moves into the game.含羞草研究社�

Ramjagsingh says the special moves are 含羞草研究社渆asy to learn how to pull off, but difficult to master in the right situation at game-speed.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淣HL 18含羞草研究社� features the fledgling Las Vegas Golden Knights. You can play as the real team or build it from scratch yourself. You can also create a 32nd team in another city 含羞草研究社� your own expansion franchise, complete with logo, name and everything else associated with a new franchise.

The arrival of the Knights forced developers to revamp some of the game framework.

含羞草研究社淭he way our game was developed, the code itself wasn含羞草研究社檛 meant to handle more than 30 teams,含羞草研究社� said Ramjagsingh, who has been with EA Sports since 2000 and was first involved with the franchise with 含羞草研究社楴HL 09.含羞草研究社�

Developers headed down to Las Vegas to take pictures of T-Mobile Arena from just about every angle to be able to recreate the Knights含羞草研究社� new home. Edmonton含羞草研究社檚 Rogers Place had previously got the same treatment.

含羞草研究社淔or us building an arena in the game is almost like building an arena in real life, in terms of the way that we build it 含羞草研究社� looking at the schematics of it, building the geometry out and then putting the textures in to make it look (like) the right colour, the right fabrics inside the arena.含羞草研究社�

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press