EA's 'NHL Slapshot' for Wii includes hockey stick peripheral, grinning Gretzky

Canoe.ca, the web home of Canadian newspaper publisher QMI Agency, has revealed a new Wii hockey game on the way from EA, called NHL Slapshot. This new game has two distinguishing features: first, it is controlled with a scaled-down hockey stick peripheral, into which the Wiimote and Nunchuk are placed; second, it features the likeness of Wayne Gretzky, the retired NHL star so famous that even non-Canadians have heard of him.

"The stick peripheral will detect slap shots, wrist shots, body checks (done with a cross-check motion) and poke checks," the article explains, "with the Wiimote's trigger used as a modifier to perform passes, dekes and other moves." Though the game will ship with the hockey stick, it can also be played with a bare Wiimote and Nunchuk or Wiimote alone.

NHL Slapshot will be officially announced by EA on Monday, according to Canoe. However, the blog already spilled pretty much all the details, including the September 7 release date.