I would think that you just have each player have an unique ID number coded in, but the actual name can be changed. Games like Ice Stars, Baseball Manager, etc allow the user to change the player names, and still track stats, so I think it would be possible.
@dev are there fan sounds ? so do they cheer if you shoot a goal? also are there penalties ? ( so players will be send out for 2 minutes )? and can you make tricks? otherwise that would be a nice update so especially for the shootout mode and my last question can you control the goalie in the shootout mode?
Seeing as the description says: I'm pretty sure there are powerplays and penalties. @Dev Any updates? Submitting soon? I am just so anxious! (I think i mispelt anxious...haha!) Oh, and for whoever asked about checking a guy into the boards, I think its there, since in the video a white jersey guy tried to check the other guy. Just making sure.
This may come after more extensive testing or once it gets released, but I hope something can be done to minimize the ability to score "cheap" goals. I'm not saying this necessarily exists in this game, but it seems in many sports games there are ways to score points, goals, etc. almost at will through certain methods...and nothing is more frustrating (or saps the fun out a game faster) than when you're playing someone and they're scoring repeatedly in the same way time after time after time. I find games that are able to minimize this much more fun to play.
judging by the speed of the puck in the video, that would only be based on pure luck- whether you choose the right side or not
Has there been talk of a new icon already? This one looks like it does the trick but is nearly identical to the MS Hockey icon. (I can't link to it, but take another look at the one above, you wouldn't notice the difference). This visual makes it easy to see it's a hockey game, but then again it's obviously not unique or disctinctive. How about an icon that also says "this is a full blown 3D hockey game on your iphone, not some mobile game about hockey." ?