This week EA Sports announced the development of the NHL 11 game, after the release of some screenshots of the game on the previous week. The main novelty is the inclusion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) that has signed a four year partnership with the game developer to see the league included in future NHL games.

The Canadian Hockey League includes 51 Canadian teams and nine American teams and is considered a source of potential NHL stars. Numbers show that in 2009, 47% of the National Hockey League entry draft came from the CHL. The new EA Sport game will feature all the hockey players from the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“It’s exciting to have the CHL integrated into our game for the first time,” commented Jordan Edelstein of EA Sports. “Their inclusion will make NHL 11 the most definitive and complete hockey experience available.” The new game, which will be released in September, will feature the new real time physics system.

“We view this purely as a promotional exercise. There is really no financial benefit to the Canadian Hockey League or our teams or players.” Members of the CHL commented. “We were just delighted to be asked to be part of it ... No, it’s not a commercial venture; it’s really a promotional venture from our standpoint to elevate the awareness of our program.”