Skater freezes when he gets possession of the puck

Hi there, @f48r5s42j7sc 

Make sure the firmware for your controller is up to date. To do this, load in to your Xbox settings and go to Devices & connections > Accessories.

Also, it would be good to try another controller just to see if you have the same issue. Thanks!

Hi, thanks for answering,

The controller firmware is updated, I did try that already. And the controller is almost new. I don't feel like buying another one already just because of NHL bugs. It works perfectly with other games and in the test mode. I also tried resynch the controller with the console 

And if I buy a new controller for how long will the game work fine? A month? Before this glitch starts happening again as soon as the controller gets used?

I found out it's when I click either right or left sticks the player only glides and cannot skate anymore until I * around the right stick or click it many times, whatever the control scheme. It happens so many times on every games I think I'm just giving up playing NHL now. 

I'm a huge hockey fan and video games hockey fan but sourly disappointed with ea sports year after year, this controller breaking glitch is the last straw. 

Thanks anyway 

Happens to me at least 3 or 4 times per game when playing Online Versus. I have used 3 different controllers (2 purchased after NHL23 & all 3 have updated firmware). When it happens it is always for 2 consecutive possessions in a row. Example: my RW gets possession and immediately freezes (can only glide and/or pass) so I pass to my RD who also freezes upon reception, I then pass to LD and he moves as normal. It is ALWAYS this behavior...2 consecutive passes after the initial freeze breaks the "spell".

Some other things I've noticed when the freeze occurs:

- It seems to mostly only happen in the offensive zone, but does occasionally in the neutral zone also (I don't recall it ever happening in the D zone).

- It seems to trigger when there is a change of possession or on a loose puck pickup (e.g. rebound after a save or blocked shot) or a deflected/partially blocked pass.

- Loss of possession (by either 1st or 2nd frozen player) breaks the freeze spell (they can immediately move again upon change of possession).

- Never happens on a clean/uninterrupted successful pass.

Super frustrating and occasionally game-altering (e.g. It's OT, and I can't bury an easy would-be goal after picking up a blocked shot in front because my guy freezes and my opponent takes it the other way and scores). Have never experienced this in any other year's version (been playing since the original 1991 release). 

@FaustOrFamine76 

Thanks for those details. What system are you playing on and are the controllers official or made by a different company? Are you using Skill Stick, Hybrid or NHL 94 controls?

As always, video really helps. If you can get some, please let me know. This is definitely an interesting issue as we receive very few reports when compared to the overall playerbase.

Thanks for the response, Aljo.

- I'm playing on Xbox Series X.

- The controllers are all OEM Microsoft controllers (2 Series X|S controllers & 1 Xbox Elite v1 controller). Again, all are up-to-date firmware-wise.

- I use Skill Stick control scheme

My buddy & I play Online Versus ("Friend" matches) regularly, and he experiences the issue also, but nowhere near as often as I do (once every 3 or 4 games if I had to guess). His setup mirrors mine (minus the Elite controller).

I really think it has something to do with whatever I'm inputting at the moment of the puck pick up. I will try to see if I can identify my exact inputs when it occurs the next few times. I will also make a mental note to capture an example video or two.

Thanks 

@FaustOrFamine76 

Sounds good. Thank you!

Thanks for the input, it feels right with my experience. But occasionally it happened in Defensive zone too 

Fyi I also use Microsoft controllers, and firmware up to date. I opened the 5 years old controller that came with the console to clean it, mainly the control sticks and try it and I almost don't have the issue with it. It freezes maybe twice in a game. 

So I tried to open and clean my new controller (that was actually still super.clean) but it changes nothing at all, it keeps gliding and not skating very often. The same controller was working perfectly with NHL just a couple of weeks ago! And it shows no deviations on the stick in the test lab, and it works great with everything except NHL!

Btw it would be easier to provide videos if the game was on PC! You know what I mean... 

If you google.it, you'll find people had the same issue with NHL 17 or 18. And.old glitch brought back to make sure we're temped to buy NHL 24? Sorry EA we're sarcastic with you but with good reasons. I seriously consider to never buy anything from you anymore and wait patiently until you lose the NHL license so you can have some competition and decent fun hockey games again.

Thanks anyway 

@f48r5s42j7sc 

You can find instructions for capturing video here. It's pretty easy to do on console.

Nothing has changed with the game in the last couple of weeks so it sounds like it's more of a hardware issue. Does it make a difference if the controller is plugged in?

Thank you for the feedback. I know you're right, that's exactly what's happening.

Still it would be nice if EA Sports would do something about it software-side, buffing the effect of the right stick drift instead of just having players buy new controllers for their specific game. I'm a développer myself and I know it could be done, but they won't bother.

There are so many simple fixes they could do to make NHL good again but I doubt they care since they have no competition. Game killing bugs are just one of them.

Thanks for community answers. Not so much to EA.