NHL 23: A D-man perspective
I've been playing NHL as a D-man as far back as I can remember. I play mostly 5v5 and 6v6. I've been lucky to be on Top 10 teams for the last four years with experience in LG, XHL, and 6HL. I've also...
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Defense is just so boring, frustrating, and completely unrewarding this year. All I feel like I can do in 6s is collapse in the defensive zone and throw out random poke checks or hope a pass hits a skate.
- DSS got nerfed to the point where it's just not worth using at all because it slows you down so much. And even if you poke the puck, the puck carrier picks it up again over 90% of the time without losing stride or slowing down.
- Stick lifts are guaranteed penalties.
- Bumps just don't work anymore.
- Hits either get shrugged off or result in taking yourself out of the play as well and not getting control of the puck.
- Passes still get forced through/into the crease with relative ease.
Very few games end up with realistic scores. It's rare if neither team has fewer than 5 goals. It's just a sad mess.
I'm rapidly approaching the point of not touching the game until a tuner/patch comes out that makes a moderate difference in gameplay at the very least. This is just not fun.
EA: "we are also improving the ability to intercept or disrupt those passes based on your positioning. "(Link)
Also EA:
Gold Quick Pick and 94 Defensive awareness. Am I in *perfect* position? No I suppose maybe not. But for the love of god come on EA. You can clearly see my stick moving towards the puck then inexplicably my guy simply turns AWAY from the puck for no apparent reason
Definitely something weird happening here
It looks like Quick Pick was about to grab that puck but then your player gets stuck in like a half stick-lift
It's entirely possible I hit A there to attempt a stick lift. Sadly without the controls display on replays being added back yet... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- @IceLion68 Damn. And you have QP too? I don't know the exact terminology, but QP players are supposed to even be able to extend their reach of breaking up passes on the ice. I dunno man. Looked like that intercept was going to happen and then it didn't. Maybe have to chalk this one up to it being an AI you're defending against.
Playing this game as a dman is absolute torture. Basically don't do anything until you can afford to have a player replace your position if you get burned for making a good play.
