Bonus players
Simply create a player and type in one of the names below. The game will finish his abilities and stats. A few 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 the game are available as hidden characters. To access the EA players, go to the create-a-player section and type in any EA Sports personnel name, which are found in the credits section towards the back of the instruction booklet. Most of the names exist as secret players, including several names from the "thanks" list, including commentator Jim Hughson, rink announcer Jon McComb and Vancouver Canucks coach/NHL 2003 strategist Marc Crawford. If you do play in franchise mode, these players will appear in the rookie draft for you to sign. If you can take the time to create enough of the players, you can fill out the EA Blades and EA Storm Custom Teams with EA Sports players to give you a further two teams to play with.

Type in Claw X as a name to create a player by that name.

Type in Wayne Gretzky as a created player name to access him.

When your at the created player screen, type in various names of real players that do not appear in the rosters. Their exact profile and face will appear.

Just create a player using one of these 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 to match that band member.

Type in the these as a last name in create a character and the game will say the phrase when you score or are selected for three stars, get a penalty etc.: The Dude, Hammer, The Wall. The entries with two words are both in the last name field.

Easter Egg cards
In order to get an Easter Egg cheat card, win ten games in a row with not boosting your goalie or players with the same NHL team. You cannot use an international team. You need to win one hundred games in row to access every cheat.

Announced created player names
When your in the create a player option, use a common last names or a last name of players already present to have them announced while playing.

Hints & Tips

Deflection shot
Pass the puck to the offensive zone close to the blue line. Then hold [Deflection/Short Block] while your shooting. One of your players will skate to the front of the net and deflect the puck in.

Use NHL player's face and picture for a created player
When your entering a name for a created player, use an existing NHL player's name. A prompt will verify that the player is in the database and then ask if you want to create a player like him. Now select "Yes" and you will get his face type and picture for you player. You can enter any name and stats once your done.

Getting good players
Use this trick to Get good players easier with CPU Trading on. After you go through the first season and the playoffs, you will be in the off-season. Be sure that you only have two goaltenders on your roster, then go into the rookie draft. If you scroll down, you will notice that there are good goaltenders in the rookie draft, as they are usually passed over by other teams. Draft the best goalie you can find, then in the regular season, trade him for a good player. With a good goalie, you can get Dany Heatley or Ilya Kovalchuk.

Easy goals
If you are skating with someone that has a high rank in the Deke category like Joe Sakic, Kariya, etc., when you get past the other teams blue line, press [Down], then press [Auto Deke]. Right after he is done with the Deke, press [Shoot]. You will score 95% of the time.

Within any difficulty setting, skate the puck into the offensive zone and speed burst past the defenseman. By this time, you will be below the goaltender. At this point another forward should have skated to the other post and is waiting for a pass. Now pass the puck over and press [Shoot]. Almost each time the goaltender will flop to the ice, leaving you an open net.

A player who has good shot aim or puck handling is best. Set "Shot Aim" to "Manual". Choose the away team so your goal is on the top part of the screen. Now give the puck to a right-handed wing or center. They shoot the best. Take the puck down to the circle on the right with the cross in it. As you reach the cross press [Shoot] and hold [Down]. It should place the puck right through the five hole. Note: This will not work always. For the same results you can do the opposite and give the puck to a left handed person and shoot from the left circle.

Just take any big shooter and let him take a slapshot in the middle of the hash marks. Now shoot for the top corner. This will work 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 the slapshot.

Simply fake to the left, then Deke to the right and do a wrist shot.

Pass the puck to one of your skaters that is a hero. Now go in front of the other team's net. You need to be in the middle of the red circles in front of the net. Now set up for a slapshot, fill the meter to the top, and shoot. You will score 85% of the time with no one in front of you.

Smash players into the glass
Obtain a hard hitter like Brenndon Shannahan. When a CPU or human player is close to the glass, press [Big Hit] for a chance to break the glass.

Constant fights
Simply set all "Fighting", "Aggression", and "Hitting" power bars up to full. Then turn off "Penalties" and "Injuries", set the "Fatigue" bar down, then create two teams with theplayers below. To make a fight break out, skate into any opposing player and press [Deke].

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