AHL on PS2

Well, this is exciting for an AHL fan to see. Apparently, Gretzky NHL '06 has acquired the official AHL license, so all 27 teams will be playable on a home console for the first time, well, ever. They seem pretty excited about it too, since AHL teams get a considerable amount of time in their trailers, although they focus on the "big market" teams like Houston, San Antonio, Cleveland and Toronto, but rest assured New Englanders, the Monarchs, Monsters, Pirates, Baby-Bs, Falcons, Tigers, and Pack are on there too. At first I was a little bit worried that the AHL teams would be sort of half-assed, with teams assigned "Generic Arena 11" like mid-majors in NCAA basketball and football games (I'm glaring directly at you EA and Take Two), but the word around the net is, they have their real arenas too. This is great news not only as an AHL fan, but also as a college hockey fan, since you can play games in important college hockey venues like the Verizon Wireless Arena, Tsongas Arena, Dunkin' Donuts Center, Van Andel Arena, and the Aud, not to mention Joe Louis Arena, XCel Energy Center and the FKA FleetCenter, included for more obvious reasons. It also marks the return of the Hartford Civic Center to a game with an NHL license, meaning plenty of people will be using the Hurricanes' throw back jerseys and moving the team back to Connecticut (if game settings allow). Anyways, it's a great time to be a New England sports fan, and a video game fan.

Check out the game's official site here:
http://www.us.playstation.com/Content/OGS/SCUS-97466/Site/