Issues with the AI "balance"
The in-game AI feels as though its consistently manipulating gameplay in ways that break immersion and fairness, tilting matches in its own favor. Instead of providing a fair challenge, these behaviors create frustration by undermining player skill and consistency. Including various behaviours such as; AI defenders frequently engage in consecutive shoves that escalate into clear cross checks, yet no penalties are ever really called—even when these actions could not be anymore exact on what the rule is for(cross checking and tripping are the seemingly most egregious offenders, countless times a poke has tripped me on or close to a breakaway and no call, let alone a penalty shot like it should be). Defensive AI recover far more quickly from contact than human players unless laid right out, and are seldom slowed down by actions that would impede a user-controlled skater or cause them to stumble in similar situations. AI opponents display abnormal, nearly instant acceleration to cut off problematic movement or passing lanes deemed severe threats, with no reliable warning or visible pattern for when this will occur. The AI abuses movement priority, intentionally maneuvering to block or mirror player movement, often actively bodying into and shadowing the user in ways that feel unnatural and excessively obstructive. Light shoves from opponents reliably knock the player off the puck or stun them, while forceful contact from the player has little impact on the AI under similar circumstances. None of these behaviors “make the game harder” in a skillful way—the AI shifts in responsiveness or aggression with no consistent logic, making its actions not necessarily "unpredictable", but "enough to predictably ignore various methods to strip them of posession The AI’s skating logic is especially problematic: CPU players will suddenly skate full tilt directly into walls, abruptly hard-stop, then accelerate backwards with the same momentum they hit the wall with, especially when the user gains control of a nearby defender. Attempting to mix up defensive or offensive approaches—including feints and direction changes—has very little effect, as the AI matches every movement in perfect unison regardless of pattern or number of changes. The AI’s skating agility while moving backwards seemingly suffers no penalty, letting it perfectly maintain gap control and mimic player actions from optimal distance with no visible disadvantage. Lunging the opportunity a player makes a move or crosses an arbitrary threshold Rather than introducing fair errors or realistic unpredictability, the AI “compensates” for its rare mistakes by inconsistently draining player stamina or otherwise handicapping the user, which feels arbitrary and unnecessarily punishing or frustrating. AI contact often feels as if players are treated like + and - magnets; whether or not “magnetic” attraction results in a successful hit or separation is determined by the AI’s arbitrary decision of what constitutes an acceptable collision. Heavy hits rarely result in lost possession and sometimes several defenders are needed to stop a puck carrier, with possession conveniently transferring to nearby AI attackers afterward. Puck battles in crowded areas seldom feel authentic—instead, entering a scrum typically means unsuccessfully trying to shove opponents out of the way or waiting for a player to locate the puck in his feet and get a stick on it. Predictably, the nearby AI immediately anticipates this and your stick gets lifted immediately. While opponent AI routinely uses logical man-to-man defensive systems, AI teammates on the user’s side routinely fail to provide this same support, especially during HUT Challenges; defenders instead allow attackers to breeze past them repeatedly with little to no attempt at coverage or resistance. A fair and sensible experience would involve AI behaviors that align with realistic hockey dynamics and give an equitable sense competition, without having to erode a level playing field. Physical contact should consistently impact puck possession and player stability regardless of which side initiates it and if minor shoves carry stun/slow effects on them, they should apply both ways, with both AI and human players equally vulnerable to momentum shifts, mistakes, and recoveries. Defensive AI should properly execute man-to-man coverage as an option for both teams that provide support and prevents attackers from repeatedly breaking through uncontested. Player skill and strategic variations—such as feints, positioning, and timing—should meaningfully influence gameplay outcomes, rather than the AI reacting with robotic precision or arbitrary stamina penalties. Overall, success should feel earned through authentic effort and less "luck based" feats, predictable hockey logic that rewards anticipation, smart decision-making, and adaptability, making gameplay challenging but transparent.Icon Passing
What happened to Icon passing in this patch?… was this on purpose because you broke it. They have absolutely no speed to the passes what so ever. No passes get through anymore. Every pass with Icon passing is extremely slow and you can no longer send a hard pass. Prior to the patch you could use Icon passing to send a pass outside the zone or on a nice breakout… thats gone. Completely.Cpu stick penalties
Can ea please tell me why the won't acknowledge the issue with cpu opposition stick penalties ie none or very few the odd trip now and again in franchise and season modes. Is it that they don't know how to patch them in or they just can't be bothered because it doesn't earn them any revenue, they managed to do it i nhl25 but sure haven't in nhl26.
Continued third period as scheduled …. disintegration 4-1 and lose 7-5
I am up 4 to 1… out playing this team unbelievably and again same thing happens again. My team turns to a turtle mode, while their team explodes and scores six on 10 shots…. this is becoming a script in these games… The person you’re playing is a complete glitch, coming down on the side with a backward skating, trying to tuck it into the side, every second easily defended… I can tell you exactly what the issue is when you start the game and you see their record….. if they have a large amount of wins versus losses, you know that you’re not gonna win this game no matter what…. You’re faster playing them and suddenly out of nowhere. The team falls apart….. The leg is real you try to turn your man you can’t rotate, it’s like trying to turn a 18 wheeler in mud. They won’t cooperate no matter if you’ve got a 91 Sergey Federer. He becomes a 75….. along with your entire team… . . 444 avg their goalie …. It’s not my system because when I’m doing like this, my son gets on his computer and checks our Internet and our Internet is 800, 50 and ping 17….. This is so frequent it leads me to believe that there is cheating. There’s no other way to explain it. It’s happens so often.!! THIS IS LAST POST OF THIS…. I know it will not stop and nothing will change in a lot of people deal with this as well….. outOnce again, it happens
I’m up 2-1, less than a minute to go in the game…. Suddenly, my entire team cannot move, skate or pass, they are delayed to respond to my movements … the other team becomes a super team and scored three goals and less than 15 seconds…: a team that I was beating easily out playing them…. And then suddenly my entire team isn’t quicksand.!!! You cannot tell me in the realm of reality that this is normal…. . Three goals and 15 seconds…. Who are we getting here? I am hardwired to both the Internet and the console with my remote… But just the sheer sudden and absolute lack of response, of my team is unbelievable!!!NHL UPDATE 1.4 1-21-26
Ok I have made a lot of post about this and I have gotten no answeres from EA.. SO gonna ask again!. When will the following be in the world of chel store. Red Wings 2025- Stadium Series jersey Blue Jackets 2025-Stadium Series Jersey Bostons New Home and AWay jerseys FLorida 2026 Winter Classic Jersey Rangers 2026 Winter classic jersey Tampa and Bostons Stadium Series jerseys OH!! and where are the three CCM sticks and the new CCM tack skates that came with the October 26th update? havent seen them in the World of chel store neither.. So Someone From EA wanna ever get back to me?????????
NHL 26 1.4 Patch Notes
Hello NHL Community, here are the notes for Update 1.4 launching this Wednesday, January 21st at 1pm ET. Please complete all online games before this time as server instability is expected up to an hour after the patch deployment. Hockey Ultimate Team Additions to Hockey Ultimate Team HUT Moments Updated New scenarios and requirements will be added, allowing for more varied and exciting gameplay experiences Moments will now instantly complete as soon as the objective is met New scenarios: Penalties / Power Plays Face off locations Goalies pulled / Empty Net situations Fixed an issue where leaving the Cup Chase sub-hub and returning after reaching the Finals could cause the Finals bracket record to display incorrectly. Fixed a visual issue in My Collection where X-Factor icons were misaligned within the black border on MSP Player Panels. Gameplay Fix for goalie over sliding when performing a pad stack on an incoming shot Be A Pro Fixed an issue where perk and activities tool tip reappears after it has already been seen Fixed a visual issue where transition screens do not appear after exiting player edit screen Fixed an issue where injury headlines only occur once each season Fixed an issue where on-screen text was incorrect in magazine endorsements Fixed an issue where the Influential response to Stay on Powerplay does not show when the user has already purchased the trait to Stay on the Powerplay World of Chel Added the ability to view club name, branding and player stats on the Clubs tab Added a party indicator in the Play HUB Added the ability to see player banners in the Game Summary screen Added the ability to see player banners in the Dressing Room Added the ability to see player banners in the Matchup screen Fixed an issue with Glacia Frostwind’s uniforms appearing too light Fixed an issue where the Turkey’s neck was see through from certain angles Fixed an issue with the textures for Halloween 26 themed hoodies when equipped underneath a jersey Fixed an issue where Jean Spectre’s head flashes during intro of grudge matches Fixed an issue where party members can enter dressing rooms while in the clubs tab Fixed an issue where there can be more than one owner of a WoC club Fixed crashes after modifying Club 3v3 stats, then filtering to 6v6 powerplay/penalty kill to change role and swapping between Edit lines and Edit Strategies view Fixed an issue where users are unable to change powerplay/penalty kill player positioning using club strategies Fixed an issue where Gamertag/PSN ID is displayed in opponent player’s banner in matchmaking lobby Fixed an issue where X-Factor tier thumbnails mismatch with Loadout tabs for SCOORIN-SNP Fixed an issue where some users are unable to progress beyond round 1 in Ones Eliminator Fixed an issue where customized intro animations did not trigger when playing as Away team in Threes Eliminator Fixed an issue where Martial Arts and Disco intro animations are not oriented properly in 6v6 Club games Fixed an issue where camera can be embedded in crowd Fixed an issue with matchmaking in Ones Eliminator Franchise Fixed a crash when editing 6’10” or taller players Game Modes Fixed an issue where Play Now games would soft lock after quitting a previous Play Now game. Fixed an issue where users get stuck in the Main Menu after advancing past a Banner Art Uniforms The following uniforms have been added or updated in NHL 26 NHL Boston Bruins – Stadium Series Florida Panthers – Winter Classic New York Rangers – Winter Classic Tampa Bay Lightning – Stadium Series AHL San Diego Gulls – Third Springfield Thunderbirds - Third ECHL Trois-Rivieres Lions – Third Utah Grizzlies – Third Worcester Railers - Third Canadian Hockey League WHL Kamloops Blazers – Third Penticton Vees – Third Wenatchee Wild - Third ICEHL Steinbach Black Wings Linz – Home and Away EC IDM Warmepumpen VSV – Home and Away EC Red Bull Salzburg – Home and Away EC-KAC – Home and Away FTC – Telekom – Home and Away HC Falkensteiner Wolfe – Home and Away HC TWK Innsbruck - Home and Away HCB Sudtirol Alperia – Home and Away Fehervar AV19 – Home and Away Moser Medical Graz 99ers – Home and Away Olimpija Ljubljana – Home and Away Pioneers Vorarlberg – Home and Away Vienna Capitals – Home and Away Source
Intention
Would truly like to find reason for the change over regarding line combos. You build up your team under a cap or AP, and at the end of a season, a new captain is awarded, and your team resorts back to a new make over. Cannot see any logic in this format. Except for EA trying to garner revenue from purchases. Have no problem with a cap. Brings more realism to the game. But the salaries of players are fictional. Rookies dont make millions. If they kept the salary base more in tune to reality, the format would be more viable. As it stands now. Its just another arcade style of game.Chel store stuff missing
Once again (like previous versions) chel store has missing REAL JERSEYS! Game said that i got Carolina Hurricanes away jersey (this season) but i did not. It was season 24-25 seasons jersey. So the game lied to me. Non of the current seasons jersey ain't in the store and i wonder why... As a Rangers fan i cannot buy and wear centennial jersey in any WoC mode and our season is going horrible (wich i cannot blame EA) so give me and also everyone else on going seasons jerseys to store (many would like to wear favorites current jersey) like we should have been since the start of the game. Please.NHL 26 - Rangers Centennial Uniform Correction
Now that the Winter Classic uniform has been added, the Centennial uniform should be updated to match the same Helmet color, Glove color, and Pants design. The current incorrect centennial uniform in game has all 3 wrong (pants are just a plain red without the beige and light blue stripe design).EA SPORTS roster free agent
hello They still haven't fixed one mistake and it's a mistake in the free agent rosters. I don't know why they don't want to fix it and I keep pointing it out. according to the eliteprospect website Here is a list of players who should not have been free agents : 1:) robert bortuzzo - retired 2:) martin jones - retired 3:) jack johson - retired 4:) craig smith - retired 5:) grigori denisenko - khl russia - bars kazan 6:) christian jaros - khl rusia - spartak moskva 7:) jean - francois berube - retired 8:) nick moutrey - poland - unia oswiecim 9:) michael houser - slovakia - hk 32 liptovsky mikulas 10:) brett ritchie - England - Sheffield Steelers 11:) grant hutton - retired 12:) alex limoges - khl - russia- dinamo minsk 13:) carsen twarynski - Northern Ireland - belfast giants 14:) milan lucic - Scotland - fife flyers 15:) max willman - khl - russia - barys astana 16:) joel l esperance - retired 17:) leo komarov - Finland - Kiekko-Espoo 18:) c.j. smith - ahl - Bridgeport Islanders ( Try-out ) 19:) daniel walcott - ahl - Hartford Wolf Pack ( Try-out ) 20:) mathias laferriere - slovakia - hkm zvolen 21:) victor mete - retired 22:) jordan schroeder - retired 23:) anthony romano - echl - Florida Everblades 24:) brandon fortunato - italia - cortina 25:) kris bindulis - slovakia - hk dukla michalovce 26:) john ramage - retired These are the players who shouldn't be among the free agents in the NHL 26 game If I have made a mistake somewhere or have given wrong information, I apologize and please correct me thank youCPU defensemen can’t keep up against the rush in 3s
I've attached the clip as well. The CPU defenseman simply can't defend the rush whatsoever in this game. This has been an issue for years, but it's even worse with how fast you can make your player in 26. Getting matched with an ai defenseman is unplayable and completely ruins 3s. Either have an option to extend matchmaking times until a full team is found in 3s OR make the CPU defenseman faster so he doesn't get burnt on every rush.
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