The game's cover man is Pittsburgh Penguins superstar and owner Mario Lemieux, who had just made a comeback after being retired for three and a half years.

"[36] Kevin "Biff" Giacobbi gave the PC version 9 out of 10, calling it "A great game, but true hockey fans that buy the latest and greatest that EA gives us each year will not see a whole lot of changes.

"[37] Christopher Allen of AllGame gave the same PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, however, saying, "Despite the unwise decision to hire Don Taylor, NHL 2002 will appeal more to the arcade action camp than the purist.

"[38] Will Abner of Computer Games Magazine gave the same PC version a similar score of three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "while some features are better, the most important part—the AI—has received little attention.

"[39] Air Hendrix of GamePro said of the PlayStation 2 version, "While the PS2 competition from 989 Sports and Konami won't hit the ice until November at the earliest, NHL 2002 plays so well that it's this year's front-running favorite.