In the create a player option, use common last names (for example, Murray) or last names of players already present to have them announced during the game.
Bonus players
Create a player and enter one of the following names. The game will complete his abilities and stats. Some players will also have a portrait.
Adam Hall
Alfie Michaud
Barry Richter
Ben Simon
Blake Bellefeuille
Brad Moran
Brian Sutherby
Chris Ferraro
Corey Hirsch
Dave Morisset
David Nemirovsky
Derek Mackenzie
Eric Fichaud
Evgeny Konstantinov
Greg Crozier
Greg Pankewicz
Guy Hebert
Ivan Huml
Jakub Cutta
Jason LaBarbera
Jason Zent
Johan Witehall
Kay Whitmore
Larry Murphy
Mark Fitzpatrick
Marquis Mathieu
Martin Brochu
Matt Herr
Matt Higgins
Michel Larocque
Raffi Torres
Rene Corbet
Rich Parent
Rick Tabaracci
Sascha Goc
Scott Fankhouser
Ty Jones
Xavier Delisle
Most of the real-life EA Sports personnel who worked on making the game are available as hidden characters. To access the EA players, go to the create-a-player section and input any EA Sports personnel name, which can be found in the credits section towards the back of the instruction booklet. Most (but not all) of the names exist as hidden players, including several names from the "thanks" list, along with commentator Jim Hughson, rink announcer Jon McComb and Vancouver Canucks coach/NHL 2003 strategist Marc Crawford. If you play in franchise mode, these players will occasionally appear in the rookie draft for you to sign. Note that the female Christian names have been substituted for viable male alternatives: e.g. Susan Smith is Steve Smith, and Christine Staples is Christie Staples. You will have to experiment to work the girls out. If you can be bothered to create enough of the players, you can fill out the EA Blades and EA Storm Custom Teams with actual EA Sports players to give you a further two teams to play with.
At the created player screen, enter various names of real players that do not appear in the rosters (such as Eric Lindros). Their exact profile and face will appear.
Create a player using one of the following names of members of the Bare Naked Ladies: Jim Creeggan, Tyler Stewart, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, or Kevin Hearn. The game will adjust the players face and statistics automatically to match that band member.
Enter the following as a last name in create a character and the game will say the phrase when you score or get selected for three stars, get a penalty etc.: The Dude, Hammer, The Wall. Remember, the entries with two words are both in the last name field.
Enter Claw X as a name to create a player by that same name.
Enter Wayne Gretzky as a created player name to unlock him.
Constant fights
Set all "Fighting", "Aggression", and "Hitting" power bars up to full. Turn off "Penalties" and "Injuries", set the "Fatigue" bar right down, then create two teams with the following players. To make a fight break out, skate into any opposing player and press Deke. Try it with a friend for best results.
Tie Domi
Peter Worrel
Paul Laus
Sean Brown
Stephen Peat
Chris Simon
Reed Low
Jeff Odgers
Jason Wiemer
Donald Brashear
Krzysztof Oliwa
Scott Parker
Brad May
Sandy Mccarthy
Wade Belak
Darcy Tucker
Andy Sutton
Georges Laraque
Steve Webb
Ryan Vandenbussche
Andre Roy
Darren Langdon
Matt Johnson
Zdeno Chara
Shayne Corson
Chris Neil
Darren Mccarty
Steve Mckenna
Ian Laperriere
Jody Shelly
Eric Boulton
Andrei Nazarov
Craig Berube
Gino Ojick
Bryan Mccabe
Colin White
Brendan Witt
Scott Thornton
Joe Thornton
Stu Grimson
Bob Probet
Aaron Ward
Deflection shot
Get the puck to the offensive zone near the blue line. Hold Deflection/Short Block while shooting. One of your players will skate to the front of the net and deflect the puck in.
Easter Egg cards
To get an Easter Egg cheat card, win ten games in a row without boosting your goalie or players with the same NHL team. You cannot use an international team. You must win one hundred games in row to unlock all of the cheats.
Easy Goals
If you are skating with someone that has a very high rank in the Deke category such as Joe Sakic, Kariya, etc., once you get past the opposition's blue line, press Down, then press Auto Deke. Immediately after he is done with the Deke, press Shoot. You will score about 95% of the time.
Take any big shooter and let him take a slapshot directly in the middle of the hash marks. Shoot for the top corner. This will work about 90% of the time. If a defender is on you, once in three zone move to the left or right, then cut back left or right and take you slapshot.
Fake to the left, then Deke to the right and do a wrist shot.
In practice, take the puck and skate up ice. Stop slightly in front of the blue line and hold Left + Square. The puck should go under the goalie's stick and into the bottom left corner of the goal. Note: This only works when you are in action view going up ice.
Get the puck to one of your skaters that is a hero (player that has a red name instead of black). Go in front of the other team's net. You must be about in the middle of the red circles in front of the net. Then, wind up for a slapshot, fill the meter all the way to the top, and shoot. You will score about 85% of the time with no one in front of you.
Under any difficulty setting, skate the puck into the offensive zone and speed burst past the defenseman. By this time, you will be just "southeast" of the goaltender. At this point another forward should have skated to the other post and is waiting for a pass. Pass the puck over and press Shoot. Almost every time the goaltender will flop to the ice, leaving you an open net.
A player with good shot aim or puck handling is recommended. Set "Shot Aim" to "Manual". Choose the away team so your goal is on the top part of the screen. Give the puck to a right-handed wing or center. They often shoot the best. Take the puck down to the big circle on the right with the cross in it. As you get to the cross press Shoot and hold Down. It should put the puck right through the five hole. Note: This will not work every time. For the same results you can do the opposite and give the puck to a left handed person and shoot from the left circle. Lefties seem to do this better.
Getting good players
Use the following trick to Get good players easily with CPU Trading on. After you go through the first season and the playoffs, you will be in the off-season. Make sure that you only have two goaltenders on your roster, then enter the rookie draft. If you scroll down, you will notice that there are usually good goaltenders in the rookie draft, as they are usually passed over by other teams for some reason. Draft the best goalie you can find, then in the regular season, trade him for a good player. With a decent goalie, you can get Dany Heatley or Ilya Kovalchuk.
Smash players into the glass
Get a hard hitter such as Brenndon Shannahan. When a CPU or human player is near the glass, press Big Hit for a chance to break the glass with them.
Use NHL player's face and picture for a created player
When entering a name for a created player, use an existing NHL player's name. A prompt will confirm that the player is in the database and then ask if you want to create a player like him. Select "Yes" and you will receive his face type and picture for you player. You can then enter any name and stats once you have finished.
