1997 edition of EA's NHL sport simulation series. Improvements in this edition come mostly in the graphical arena, with a refined version of the `virtual stadium` system that adds new camera angles (including the classical top-down one strangely missing from NHL 96), and polygonal players instead of the bitmap-based ones with motion-captured animations.
Other extras include multiplayer support for up to 8 players through network or Gravis's GrIP system, the option to create new players and trade them around, and the usual amount of EA sports licensed multimedia flair, including an interesting `Goalie Mask Viewer` which lets you observe the elaboratedly decorated helmets of 30 goalies.