EA Sports has released the debut gameplay video for NHL 13, showing fans an exclusive first look at the game.

EA has promised that NHL 13 will deliver “major innovations that will change the way you play the game.” In fact the publisher is promising the biggest change to the franchise since the Skill Stick was introduced in NHL 07.

The game will feature a new True Performance Skating, a new AI system which is being called EA Sports Hockey IQ, and new GM Connected and NHL Moments Live modes to connect fans online. These new additions will combine to provide a revamped gameplay experience that “accurately captures the speed, creativity and strategy of NHL hockey.”

NHL fans were given the opportunity to decide on the cover athlete, a first in the NHL series history. Voting stages ran from the end of March and ended in early June, and with nearly 26 million votes cast the 60 NHL players were narrowed down to one. Claude Giroux, the Philadelphia Flyers forward, emerged victorious, beating Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne by just one percent.

Watch below as the game’s Gameplay Producer Ben Ross takes you through an exclusive first look at NHL 13.

NHL 13 will be available across multiple platforms on the 11th of September in the US and the 14th of September in Europe.

Tags: ea, easports, nhl13, screenshots, trailer