EHM offers fans the most realistic, in-depth and immersive simulation of hockey management available, giving them the chance to manage either club or country in any of the world’s top hockey-playing nations.
Very Positive
1,364 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
není čeština
Bad game, really bad game. Imports are difficult and full of bugs. Visually damaging for the brain too...
THIS GAME IS UNPLAYABLE! I come back to this game every now and then and always encounter the same kind of errors, the game always crashes at a certain set date during every playthrough and therefore the game is unplayable! The game is dead and will never be fixed. Just don't play this game. It's unfortunate that there aren't any good hockeysim alternatives made by a dedicated team of developers with their primary focus on THAT game because the FHM series doesn't cut it. The only solution is a new and improved detailed game with the same mechanics and frame as EHM , with better design and without disk dependancy.
Awesome game, especially for the price.
Great to become addicted to hockey game.. :)
If you like hockey, and you like management, this is still the best one out there.
This is the greatest sports sim game of all time. But if you want to play actual hockey, you're not gonna like it. Purely sim. But it is the best at what it does. Glad the community has continued to support it.
I basically bought a laptop just so I could play this game on the couch.
Hab jetzt über 300 std in diesem game . Hab jetzt mehrmals die DEL mit Füchsen gewonnen wäre gut wenn die in echt mal so gut wären .
Müsst ihr Wissen
I haven't played for years, but to this day I hold EHM as the gold standard of hockey sims. It's taken FHM 11 iteration just to get near it. I hope one day there is a worthy true succesor
hyvä peli mutta linksu on noob tässä pelissä
Yes. i will. BUT! Sports interactive could make at least one update! Update to support Huge databases without crashing. Looks like there is some funny issue in the game. And i think it is memory leak, or nor using then specific number.
So at least that. AND! Add genders to create female leagues. Only 2 things. And maybe Praise button. Deffinitelly the game is worth the money and would be nice to have it updated. Plenty of guys hate the alternative.
yes
The best hockey manager of all time, fhm sucks
its an okay game
5/5
Good game
Great to have run in the background while working...
The game is just totally ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with multi monitor, resolutions and scaling. Seems that there is no good hockey manager game available for me to do nice multi tasking fun with. Would be nice if the scaling of it would make the text be visible with all monitors. Also when i put it on my second screen and put it to full screen the mouse cursor just hovers where ever making it impossible to press anything.
This isn’t just a game — it’s an experience
Hours played: 1277 (and I’m still standing in the main menu listening to the music)
I don’t even know where to begin. It’s rare that something hits every single note — story, music, gameplay, visuals, writing — and does it so perfectly that you forget you’re staring at pixels. This game didn’t just entertain me; it ruined other games for me.
The story starts small. Just you, a broken world, and a reason to keep going — and before you know it, you’re caught in a web of choices that actually matter. The characters feel alive in a way that makes you miss them when you’re not playing. Every line of dialogue sounds like it was written by someone who’s lived a hundred lifetimes.
The soundtrack deserves its own review. Every note sinks into your soul. One minute you’re holding your breath through a quiet piano track, the next your heart’s pounding with orchestral chaos during a boss fight that feels more like a dance than a battle. I’ve had the title theme stuck in my head for days — and I’m not complaining.
Visually, it’s breathtaking. The world isn’t just beautiful; it feels lived in. Every light flicker, every distant echo, every reflection in the rain — it all tells a story. I took so many screenshots that I filled an entire folder called “emotional damage.”
And the gameplay? Smooth. Satisfying. Everything just works. It doesn’t hold your hand, but it never feels unfair. Every mechanic feels handcrafted to serve the narrative. Even the smallest side quests feel like pieces of a larger puzzle that rewards curiosity and empathy.
The ending… I’m still recovering. I sat there through the credits, controller in hand, watching the names of people who just changed my definition of what a “game” can be. Then I started New Game+ immediately because I wasn’t ready to let go.
I laughed, I cried, I questioned my life choices. And somewhere in between, I realized this isn’t a story about the player — it’s a story for the player.
The Football Manager of ice hockey games. It's essentially "dead", but that doesn't stop it being great - and the community fills in the gaps by providing roster updates to keep it fresh.
It's not as in-depth as Football Manager, but the addictiveness factor is still there...
Take over the team that I play in.
See that I have way more ice-time than in real life.
Bench myself.
11/10
Now, this is a game that no longer gets updates from SI. Hasn't in a long long time. But, the game is kept alive by the community. Roster updates, logos, facepacks and more all from the workshop. A great community driven game. This, despite being 10 years old, is way better than Franchise Hockey Manager.
Only downside is that 2560x1440 displays are not supported, it will play in a window, you cannot fullscreen this game. But, it is still completely playable and fine.
Very nice game, just one thing is transfers/contracts in seasoon 2 are a bit unrealistic in europe
Actually 40-50 hours but very fun
If you've always enjoyed franchise mode in NHL and wanted to dip a little deeper into it, this is the answer. For me FHM could never quite scratch the itch the way EHM does. Someone asked why I have so much playtime and no review, so here my 2 cents after 2k hours.
The UI is a little daunting early on but it's a similar learning curve to a complex 4X strategy game, once you put in a bit of time navigating becomes easy. Very good granularity on the level of control you have (can choose whether you or the computer via the head coach controls the bench during games, runs practice, chooses lines and chooses tactics). Scouting is extremely deep with the depth of leagues included. Can GM a team in virtually any league you can imagine (results may vary on compatibility, sometimes smaller leagues can be wonky).
As far as I'm concerned Workshop is an absolute MUST. The TBL/Premier Pivot rosters are kept up to date at various points in the season (free agency, start of season, trade deadline, end of season, etc) by a dedicated community team with current players and youth/prospects being updated. The face and logo packs bring the UI and feel of the game to life, and adding in pictures yourself for coaches, team splash screens and pages really ties it together.
The commmunity on the EHM Blueline site is extremely supportive, if you have a question there's a good chance it's already been answered somewhere on there, you can even find your way into an online league if you're feeling ambitious. This game is a community labour of love and there's a reason I play as much as I do.
I've played this game for 2,284 hours (I know some of it was being afk so that probably adds up to a couple of those hours) but I figured I finally made up my mind about this game.
I truly love Eastside Hockey Manager. Now I could list all the things I wish were better, fixed, or added, but all-in-all this is exactly what I want from a "GM Mode" game. The roster mods and additional programs like EHMAssistant and EHM Editor have kept this game fresh from year to year and keeps me coming back. I don't know how many releases Franchise Hockey Manager has had yet, but EHM still has them all beat. I wish we could get more updates for this game, but even if we didn't I'll keep playing and recommending it to hockey fans.
It's fun
Eastside Hockey Manager – Hra pro hokejové mozky
Už vás nebaví hrát hokej na ledě? Co takhle se přesunout za stůl a stát se hokejovým manažerem? Přesně to vám nabízí Eastside Hockey Manager (EHM). A nenechte se mýlit, není to jen tak ledajaký manažer. Je to komplexní a propracovaná simulace, která z vás vyždímá každou kapku hokejového mozku.
EHM je na trhu už nějakou dobu, a přesto si stále drží své místo. Proč? Protože se zaměřuje na to, co je pro hokejové fajnšmekry nejdůležitější – detaily. Hra vás hodí do role generálního manažera a trenéra, přičemž musíte řešit naprosto vše, od tréninku, přes skauting, draft, přestupy, až po taktiku pro jednotlivé zápasy. A věřte mi, není to tak jednoduché, jak to zní.
Taktika a realismus
Co EHM odlišuje od ostatních, je jeho neuvěřitelný realismus. Databáze hráčů je obrovská a zahrnuje tisíce jmen z celého světa. Jejich statistiky a atributy jsou precizně zpracované, takže se můžete ponořit do hloubkové analýzy. A teď to nejdůležitější – taktika. Taktické možnosti jsou téměř nekonečné. Můžete nastavit formace, strategie pro přesilovky i oslabení a dokonce i detaily, jako je agresivita napadání. Chcete hrát s jedním obráncem vzadu a útočníky napadajícími? Žádný problém. Chcete bránit v pěti hráčích v pásmu? I to jde. Všechny vaše rozhodnutí mají dopad na hru a můžete si být jisti, že každá změna bude vidět na ledě.
Pomalé tempo, ale velká zábava
A teď jedna důležitá věc: EHM je hra pro trpělivé. Nečekejte rychlou a akční jízdu. Tempo je pomalé a na úspěch si musíte počkat. To ale neznamená, že je to nuda. Naopak. Je to neuvěřitelně návykové. Každé vítězství je zasloužené a každá porážka vás nutí přemýšlet, co jste udělali špatně. Kdykoliv si myslíte, že už máte svůj tým kompletně pod kontrolou, objeví se nové překážky – zranění hráčů, nečekané výměny nebo tlak od managementu.
Verdikt
Pokud hledáte hru, kde se stanete opravdovým hokejovým manažerem, Eastside Hockey Manager je jasná volba. Není to pro každého a pokud nemáte rádi detailní a hluboké simulace, možná vás neosloví. Ale jestli milujete hokej a rádi přemýšlíte o taktice, přestupech a rozvoji hráčů, pak je to pro vás ta pravá hra.
Co se mi líbilo:
Realismus: Masivní databáze hráčů a realistické simulace.
Hloubka: Obrovské možnosti taktiky a správy týmu.
Návykovost: I přes pomalé tempo je to neuvěřitelně vtahující.
Co by mohlo být lepší:
Uživatelské rozhraní: Vypadá trochu zastarale a občas je nepřehledné.
Učení: Hra vás nevodí za ruku a na začátku může být složité se zorientovat.
Celkové hodnocení: 8.5/10
Eastside Hockey Manager je poctivá simulace pro hokejové nadšence. Připravte si strategický plán a pusťte se do toho, protože na vás čeká hokejový svět plný výzev.
Co vy na to? Myslíte, že byste zvládli roli hokejového manažera?
Best hockey management game ever.
it's fun to pretend
really fun game if you like hockey and managing . the community also very great to keep it up to date to make it even better
Amazing Hockey Manager!
Please bring Championship Manager 01/02 to Steam - it is still the best Manager of all time!
Thank you!
Never played ice hockey and so found some tutorials and had a go. Really glad I did. The waivers are wild, the trades are tricky and the contracts are crazy. Your fans will hate you and your board will be very displeased but as long as you keep winning and making money, who gives a puck. The draft is over rated as there are loads of ways of getting new players onto your team. LOTS OF FUN !!!
Do you have strong ADHD and a passion for hockey?
Well stop scrolling because let me tell you; you just found the answer to stimulate that big brain of yours for years to come.
This is the best Hockey GM simulation that is out there, hands down. Teams will take needs/surplus in consideration in trading and salaries. You hire your own staff, from your scouts to your physios. Multiple great Mods to enhance your lore (1998 season start, also 1993 ).
Now you don't play Hockey, wich is actually a good thing because there is so many layers to go through on a daily basis, that your GM's responsibility will eat at all your spare time.
Although trading can be exploited, it's the best system out there, EA BS is harder to accomplish.
I have spent countless hours in my 1998 playthrough, knowing who to draft in the upcoming years (Traded Mark Rechi in his prime for an 18 yrs old Datsyuk, 80 % of drafted players made it to the NHL since i knew who draft, managed to hire the best coaching staff and scouts), and all that over the course of 25 in-game years.
I highly recomend this game to hardcore hockey fans, who enjoys more the management/statistical side of the game.
This is not a hockey game, this is a hockey management simulation.
Enjoy this Gem!
Please make another one.
To be any hockey team in the world
Eastside Hockey Manager, developed by Sports Interactive and available on Steam, is a deep and comprehensive simulation game that puts players in full control of managing a professional ice hockey team. For fans of the sport who relish the behind-the-scenes decision-making—from roster building and scouting to financial management and tactical planning—this title offers an unmatched level of depth. Though it lacks the glossy presentation and mass-market appeal of mainstream sports titles, it more than makes up for it with its authenticity and meticulous attention to detail. It’s a spiritual sibling to Football Manager, built around the same philosophy of realism and strategic control.
At its core, Eastside Hockey Manager allows players to take charge of nearly any professional or junior team from a wide range of leagues around the world, including the NHL, AHL, SHL, Liiga, KHL, and countless others. The breadth of leagues and player databases is staggering, and Sports Interactive has clearly made a concerted effort to reflect the real-world structures and dynamics of global hockey. Whether you're managing a perennial NHL contender or a small-market European team, the game adapts to your environment, with different rules, financial constraints, and player development paths. This global authenticity provides significant replay value, allowing players to test their managerial skills in vastly different hockey cultures.
Gameplay is structured around daily team management tasks. You’ll be handling contract negotiations, training schedules, scouting reports, player morale, and even media interactions. The game features an in-depth scouting system that mimics real-world evaluation techniques, including tracking player potential, mental attributes, and developmental ceilings over time. Drafting young prospects and nurturing them into first-line stars years down the line is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game. It requires patience, long-term vision, and strategic roster balancing, especially under salary cap constraints or when dealing with injuries to key players. The level of micromanagement can be overwhelming for newcomers, but for experienced sim players, it's a dream come true.
The tactical aspect of Eastside Hockey Manager is equally complex. You're not just setting lines—you’re building chemistry, creating power play and penalty kill strategies, deciding on forechecking intensity, and adapting your style to your roster’s strengths. Matches can be simulated quickly or watched play-by-play, with commentary that reflects real-time decisions and player performances. While the in-game visuals are limited to 2D representations and text-based feedback, they provide enough context to understand what’s working and what’s failing. The tactical feedback loop is robust, with detailed statistics, form trends, and opposition analysis allowing you to refine your approach game by game.
Visually, the game is utilitarian. The interface is dense and packed with data, with hundreds of screens dedicated to stats, reports, and rosters. While it can feel dated and intimidating at first glance, the design favors function over flair. Once you're familiar with the layout, navigation becomes second nature, and the sheer amount of available information becomes one of the game’s greatest strengths. However, this no-frills presentation may deter casual players or those expecting a more dynamic graphical interface. Still, for the hardcore hockey strategist, the spreadsheets and data tables are part of the appeal.
One of the standout aspects of Eastside Hockey Manager is its community and modding support. The game’s built-in database is already extensive, but player-made updates, real-world rosters, and even custom leagues add tremendous value. The user-driven updates help keep the game relevant long after official patches slow down. Community forums are active, offering advice, guides, and tools that help new players overcome the steep learning curve. Whether you're adding junior leagues, tweaking league rules, or importing historical data, the modding flexibility opens up near-limitless possibilities for long-term play.
That said, Eastside Hockey Manager is not without shortcomings. Its learning curve is steep, and the game does little hand-holding for newcomers. Tutorials are limited, and much of your early experience will involve trial and error. The lack of dynamic media narratives, visual flair, or player personalities—features that titles like Football Manager have increasingly embraced—can make some seasons feel clinical or detached. Additionally, the game occasionally suffers from user interface lag or minor bugs, especially when managing large databases or simulating multiple leagues.
Despite these limitations, Eastside Hockey Manager remains the definitive experience for players who want total control over a hockey franchise. Its unmatched realism, strategic complexity, and deep customization tools offer a uniquely satisfying simulation experience. It demands time, attention, and a love for the minutiae of the sport, but rewards that investment with a gameplay loop that feels endlessly rich. For hockey fans looking for a cerebral, spreadsheet-driven experience rather than arcade thrills or quick wins, Eastside Hockey Manager is not just a game—it’s a long-term project that captures the soul of managing a team in one of the world’s most dynamic sports.
Rating: 8/10
My favourite Hockey simulation game. Lots of detail.
---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☑ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☑ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☑ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10
Not so fun game...
uh so. I can't really recommend or unrecommend the game, but since I'm not really going to ever play it again and didn't have fun I'm not going to recommend it.
Honestly it's more embarassing than anything else, I don't know anything about hockey, but I thought that this would be about managing a hockey team and then there would be an actual hockey game you could play yourself and it would be like a stats based party rpg that you set up in order to play a hockey game.
But it's not that, and I don't know anything about hockey, so like... uh, yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Just kinda sad now and disappointed.
Maistuu.
This game is just so much fun. Extremely deep and just amazingly addictive.
It's my fault for not reseathing this game more. I was not expecting a hockey game with only fake players that requires me to download actual player rosters from a different site and manually load them into the game. At the very least, NHL rosters for current seasons should be in the game already.
Can't even start a game because I can't find the workshop download in game, somebody have a tutorial on how to use pivot roster v9.5...
Terrible juegazo de gestión, con MUUUUCHA similitud y onda al Football Manager. Lo malo que esta en ingles, después todo lo demás equipaciones, equipos, escudos se descarga fácil y TODO actualizadisimo. Hasta tiene temporadas retro muy fáciles de descargar y sus respectivas fotos de ese momento. MUY RECOMENDADO!! Obvio, si te gusta el hockey sobre hielo, y por no tener un NHL desde el 2009 en PC =´( Snif snif.... VAMOS EA SAQUEN UN NHL PARA PC , YA ES HORA!!
Please add Russian Language!
Обзор делать точно нужно. Игра действительно топ. Я долго искал хоккейный менеджер и решил вести в ютуб и выдал эту игру. Купил, затягивает капец как, кажется что поиграл от силы минут 15, а оказывается часа 2 уж точно. Максимально простая.
Из минусов: нету русского языка, но благо английский я знаю на базовом уровне, так что проблем в принципе не было. Так же спасибо людям которые работают с игрой, я имею ввиду кто делает составы, лого паки и фейс паки.
Игра простая, дешевая, удобная и очень интересная. Здесь ты не просто покупаешь игроков которых захотел, тут ты анализируешь: подойдет ли под тактику, под зарплату и т.д.
Ставлю заслуженные: 8/10
Endlich einen richtigen Hockeymanager gefunden - davon gibt's viel zu wenig verglichen mit Fussball. Das Spiel ist zwar alt, bringt jedoch Langzeitmotivation. Wäre schön, gäb's eine neuere Version und graphisch up-to-date.
You probably shouldn't buy this game: it's simply too addictive. Far and away the best hockey GM simulation that's ever been produced. Everything from roster construction, to scouting and drafting, to tactical deployment and line combinations, is beautifully handled.
Bug on Windows 11
.
It's like crack.
A great simulator that offers so much more than strat-o-matic
Slightly addicted to this game.
Game good.
way better then fhm even though its older. use workshop.
I'm not sure. I don't like it but I generally don't like sport games, perhaps for manager fans it does have some positive aspects. Nonetheless, I can't imagine there aren't much better similar games.
Very good game.
Classic game, always enjoyable
Very good, that's all.
Still the best hockey management simulator around...
wish could get a "proper" update for it at some point soon but the guys at TBL etc do an amazing job with rosters.
Give me a USHL draft and College recruitment as they are in real life and it would still be perfect.
Bra update på nya övergångar. Men uppdatera spelet som fm gör varje år
it is a nice hockey manager game. better than the other ones.
I like hockey
Had fun for about 1 season then got annoyed by players refusing to resign or ask for 16 million USD per year lol.
Been playing this game for years and it never gets old as long as the roster updates continue being made.
Sure your local team under-performs consistently irl, but now you can headcanon them into dynasty levels of success.
Trovato in un bundle, non ci capisco niente.
Its a shame that SI just have abandoned this gem!
My biggest wish is that SI come back to this game and make a reboot or a new version of it.
Hire the The Blue Lines-dude!
4/5
Would be a 5/5 if SI had a plan for it.
Addicting!
Once you figure out how to set things up (if you want to use updated NHL rosters), it makes you understand the crack epidemic. Can't stop.
Best hockey management game out there as far as mechanics go. UI takes some getting used to, and FHM's is better. I have both games - despite the NHL branding and better UI, I keep coming back to EHM. Mod community keeping it alive.
It do be good,
great game if you love ice hockey i have put many hours into this game
It's good after all. UI can be very confusing at first. I have bashed my head against the wall with this game so much I think I'm finally starting to get it.
Having put a few hours in, I think I like this game.
is greet sim about hocky as manger
interesting game. makes it fun to be a GM.
very fun, would recommend for all armchair GMs around the world
The best hockey manager game. One of the best sportsmanager games ever. The dev still try to do patches when has free from day job. Love this game. You can mod it for example to have modern players or historic. Works great on steam deck.
NHL GM Mode goes crazy
эбал
Online not working.
a engine mesmo sendo antiga é melhor do que qualquer hockey manager,
best hockey sim ever
Constantly updated by a great mod community, this game put you in control of a professional hockey franchise with many leagues to choose from. Unlike some simulators ESHM seems to have a lot of in-game influence from the user. You can play conservatively or aggressively and get realistic outcomes, shuffle lines poorly or effectively, and pull your goalie all while watching a simplified play by play overview. You can adjust breakouts, dump-ins, formations and faceoff takers as well with instant results in the live game.
Scouting is fun and immersive and allows the user to control how involved the would like to be. For some of my scouts I usually set and forget having them scout NA pro leagues year-round, others end up doing tours of european leagues over the course of a season. Players have personalities, friendships and language barriers, as do staff. This game is full of nuggets that will always have you tinkering with your club.
After I go to start a career [ I have downloaded the latest roster update ] the game just keeps saying that there isn't enough disk space or file has being locked by system or bad sectors on disk being written to. Has anybody got an idea what I should do or need to do?
I love you forever EHM
Really good game with a ton of depth. Need a few mods to enjoy fully but you have everything you need in the workshop.
Please release a new game based off the redesigned Football Manager updates.
tres bon jeu
Like ladd but not olagligt
puck
Better than any other Hockey manager and better than EA sports!
great for the sim...
love it.
best hockey sim on the market . wish nhl franchise mode could be that good
Great game but it keeps crashing when i get to a particular date.
pour tous les fans de hockeys
If you like Football Manager you can turn your hand to this
Honestly the best Management sim for Hockey out there. I just wish Sports Interactive would show this some love like FM. This game in 3d would be incredible
