An add-on featuring Elitserien and SM-Liiga was released on the PC version on March 8, 2001, that added Swedish and Finnish hockey leagues and teams to the game.

Jim Hughson remains as play-by-play announcer in the game, with Bill Clement joining as an analyst for a second time, debuting in the previous edition, NHL 2000.

An expansion pack for the PC version of NHL 2001 including the Swedish and Finnish elite leagues was released in early 2001, titled Elitserien 2001 (SM-Liiga 2001 in Finland).

[8][9][10] Emmett Schkloven of X-Play gave the PS2 version four stars out of five and stated, "EA has spent a lot of effort making NHL 2001 accessible to newcomers and non-hockey fanatics.

It offers impressive (albeit repetitive) audio, superb graphics and animation to go along with exciting gameplay and fans of both arcade and simulation-style sports games should be able to find some aspect to enjoy.

Online play, customizable rosters that are available for download from the Internet and multiple season modes make this a game that should occupy the hard drive for a long time, at least until the next version is released.

[42] Kevin Krause later gave the PlayStation 2 version 9.3 out of 10, calling it "a great game overall and the innovative new features put it yet another step ahead of the pack.

"[44][d] Human Tornado said in one GamePro review that the PlayStation version "keeps its lead over Sony's NHL FaceOff, but every year, that gap gets smaller.

"[47][g] In another GamePro review, the latter author said of the same PlayStation 2 version, "All told, NHL 2001 is an impressive example of next-gen sports action, ranking it as one of the new system's best titles.