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Friday, 13 August, 2010 1:26 AM

NHL stars give fans a taste of what awaits on the ice in NHL2K11

WESTLAND, Mich. -- During the Tuesday afternoon heat, Westland received three hours of interactive coolness thanks to a visit by several local hockey personalities. However, not a single player or representative of the Detroit Red Wings was anywhere in sight.

Making a stop in the lot of a Best Buy store off Cowan Road, a continent-bound RV sponsored by 2K Sports provided visitors with gaming booths that give a glimpse into the upcoming NHL2K11 on the Nintendo Wii and an autograph table featuring three renowned players of the National Hockey League: Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks, the Los Angeles Kings’ Jack Johnson, and newly acquired Chicago Blackhawks goalie Marty Turco.

What made such a trio of stars so fitting for a stop that’s predominantly Wings country was the sense that it might have been considered a preseason homecoming, with Kesler being a Livonia native while Johnson and Turco are noted alumni of the University of Michigan Men’s Hockey team.

While linked together by their within the region, they were also unanimous in their praise of the more physical participation that the Wii edition provides, most specifically in the game pace and stick-handling capabilities.

“You can pick up the puck with the stick, I was able to,” commented Johnson on a more impressive advantage. “You make a great move, you deserve to be awarded,” said Turco of the Wii’s ability to make arm/remote correlation more direct in the players’ maneuvers on screen.

Such involvement provided by the Wii system would make one wonder whether such an innovation could be trumped in the following year, but Turco was optimist about what 2K Sports still had up its sleeve. “Every year I walk away and ask how they can get better than this,” he said, adding that they continually proved him wrong and maintain innovative approaches in the years to come.

"It's pretty awesome, I love playing hockey and all of my friends will be pretty jealous," said Morgen Gray of Plymouth, Mich. who was seen playing the new video game NHL2K11. "I had 2K10, but it's pretty awesome. It's pretty cool that the players could come out and sign hockey pucks. It's actually been my dream to meet a hockey player."

Of course, with the joys of getting to play such an NHL video game would come the reality of player-by-player ratings based on real-life grading that NHLer participants could either love or loathe. When asked whether being on the cover of 2K11 gave him a bonus in such ratings for his digitized self, Kesler could only sigh, “Well, they were pretty accurate.”

Should that be the case when copies hit retail stands on August 24, NHL2K11 will enable buyers to experience a raised level of control that might extend beyond the thumbs into the NHL-friendly territory of forearms and maybe even shoulders.

Pre-order reservations are being accepted at Best Buy, GameStop and online at Amazon.com.