Pass or Fail: EA Sports and ESPN simulation league for the 2012-13 NHL season

In what will either be the perfect therapeutic diversion for NHL fans or the hockey equivalent of a blow-up doll, EA Sports and ESPN are simulating the 2012-13 season during the lockout.

Yes, it's a full simulation from the company that brought you such full simulations as the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs; co-hosted by the network that has pushed NHL hockey to the last 35 seconds of SportsCenter for the majority of the last seven years.

If they don't determine the Norris winner through who had the most Hercules Checks, they're doing it wrong.

EA Sports it keeping a running tabulation of the standings and scoring leaders through the Faux 2012-13 season. Dennis Wideman is among them with two goals. Virtual Jay Feaster smiles widely, and food falls out of his mouth.

Martin Brodeur is leading the league in wins and shutouts with two. I believe this simulation is completely flawless.

Well, unless you're a New York Islanders fan, in which case it's pretty much just a giant kick in the stones.

The EA Sports Islanders are 2-0 on the season, but as the video shows they lost John Tavares to an injury that will keep him out for months. What kind of exercise in cruelty are you running over there, EA? Haven't these people suffered enough?!

So what are your thoughts? Simulated seasons aren't exactly our bag … unless, of course, there are some awesome glitches like back in the 1990s EA games, like when Steve Rucchin or Michael Pivonka would suddenly score 80 goals with no assists. And by that we mean if the Columbus Blue Jackets go 82-0 and then sweep every series to the Cup.

But, as hockey-starved fans, maybe you guys dig it. With that …

Pass or Fail: The EA Sports and ESPN simulation league for the 2012-13 NHL season