{"id":840319,"date":"2026-09-08T06:56:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T06:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840319\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T06:56:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T06:56:22","slug":"the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-ranking-carolina-hurricanes-nhl-27-face-scans-from-best-to-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840319\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Ranking Carolina Hurricanes NHL 27 Face Scans From Best to Worst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though it comes as little surprise to longtime fans of the franchise, EA Sports\u2019 early access release of NHL 27 over the weekend came with a brutal reception. From the heavy usage of generative AI<\/a>, to the abundance of glitches<\/a>, the lack of attention to detail<\/a>, and the absence of anything truly new or exciting \u2013 it has left fans understandably upset and underwhelmed.<\/p>\n

However, one of the biggest issues fans have had are the absolutely diabolical face scans of players. As you can imagine, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions were not spared of the hilarity. Though some of the Carolina Hurricanes players were modeled decently enough, others were certainly not so lucky\u2026<\/p>\n

Here they are, from best to worst, including notes on each of them.<\/p>\n

S-Rank: Magnificently Done<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Taylor Hall: The quality of Taylor Hall\u2019s face scan actually surprised me. I had figured that this one would fall by the wayside, like many below which we will get into, but this one was exceptionally accurate.<\/p>\n

Jaccob Slavin: This one, on the other hand, did not surprise me. The \u2018Next Generation Player Faces\u2019 did not come along until NHL 25, and despite that, previous installments actually got very close in accuracy for the Hurricanes\u2019 alternate captain. Well done.<\/p>\n

A-Rank: It\u2019s\u2026Good<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Sebastian Aho: Okay, this is where things are slowly taking a turn in the direction of \u2018what the h-e double hockey sticks were they thinking\u2019, but we do keep some accuracy. Of the three for this ranking, I think Aho\u2019s is the closest to the real thing.<\/p>\n

Seth Jarvis: This one was very close to dropping to B, but there were some aspects that saved its bacon \u2013 namely hair, eyebrows, and facial hair. (\u2026Do eyebrows count as facial hair?)<\/p>\n

K\u2019Andre Miller: Overall, it\u2019s close enough. However, I will say that I don\u2019t quite know what they were thinking with the eyebrow slit on the right side \u2013 I do not recall Miller ever actually going with that style (or at least not in recent memory).<\/p>\n

B-Rank: Close, But No Cigar<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Nikolaj Ehlers: Ehlers and Jarvis really could be interchangeable \u2013 both being fringe A and B. I would rank Ehlers as the most accurate of this grouping, though it is still clear that the face model looks\u2026off.<\/p>\n

Jordan Staal: The 2026 Conn Smythe winner looks\u2026okay enough. It definitely could have been better, but then again, it really could have been worse.<\/p>\n

Alexander Nikishin: I can see the vision \u2013 I can understand what they were going for\u2026but for a face model of a highly physical defenseman, this one really just failed to hit.<\/p>\n

Jackson Blake: If you handed me a photo of this one, and asked me which Hurricanes player it was, I would be able to tell you\u2026but that still doesn\u2019t say much.<\/p>\n

C-Rank: These Designs Belong in Other Video Games<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Jalen Chatfield: Not sure if the Hurricanes\u2019 top-line speed-demon of a defenseman, or a character from Assassin\u2019s Creed IV\u2026<\/p>\n

Logan Stankoven: If I squint really hard, I can see Stankoven\u2026but if my eyes are wide open \u2013 as they should be when playing a fast-paced sports video game \u2013 he just looks like some random character I fultoned back to Mother Base last week in Metal Gear Solid V.<\/p>\n

D-Rank: This is Just Getting Ridiculous Now<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Shayne Gostisbehere: This\u2026isn\u2019t the worst of the three face scans, but\u2026it isn\u2019t great, either.<\/p>\n

Jesperi Kotkaniemi: I know he was scratched for half of last season, but we still remember what he looks like! And this isn\u2019t it!<\/p>\n

Andrei Svechnikov: \u2026Huh?! That\u2019s\u2026that\u2019s not Svechnikov, guys\u2026I don\u2019t know who that is, but it isn\u2019t Svech.<\/p>\n

E-Rank: We Have Reached the Point of No Return<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Jankowski: They got the hairstyle right, but\u2026literally nothing else.<\/p>\n

Brandon Bussi: They didn\u2019t even get the hairstyle right, I don\u2019t understand what they were thinking here.<\/p>\n

F-Rank: \u2018Mom, Come Pick Me Up, I\u2019m Scared\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Sean Walker: Did one of the game devs just step in for Walker\u2019s face scan, because I do not see a lick of resemblance to Walker here.<\/p>\n

Jordan Martinook: The stuff of nightmares.<\/p>\n

William Carrier: The man has won the Stanley Cup twice, yet gets such disrespect.<\/p>\n

Eric Robinson: Nah, that\u2019s just young Martin Necas.<\/p>\n

Nicolas Deslauriers: Come on, EA \u2013 we have the technology to at least make this remotely accurate\u2026<\/p>\n

Pyotr Kochetkov: They gave Kochetkov the Reddit mod build \u2013 what has this world come to.<\/p>\n

Credit: NHL 27 images captured by The Canes Stats Brand via X<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tRachel Barkley is a beat writer covering the Carolina Hurricanes for Carolina Hockey Now on Sportsnaut. Painting stories with … More about Rachel Barkley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though it comes as little surprise to longtime fans of the franchise, EA Sports\u2019 early access release of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4821,385,99],"class_list":["post-840319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-carolina-hurricanes","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}