NHL Hitz is a series of ice hockey video games published by Midway Games, for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. The series is known and popular for its unique gameplay style: it focuses on fast-paced hockey with an arcade feeling to deliver entertaining hockey to gamers, but features neither injuries nor penalty shots. As the name suggests, the series has a lot of hard hitting which is more often appealing to casual hockey fans than hardcore ones. The first two games, NHL Hitz 20-02 and NHL Hitz 20-03, feature 3-on-3 (3 skaters, 1 goaltender) hockey. NHL Hitz Pro, however, goes a step further, featuring 5-on-5 hockey. The NHL Hitz series has, apart from the National Hockey League (NHL) license, also the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) license, allowing the se