NHL 24 Tunnel of Doom Goal Celebration?

I have to echo the points made here and elsewhere in this topic.  The new flex moment celebrations are a hard block to me purchasing this year's game. and I've purchased every NHL game since '94.  

Now that I've dated myself, I'd like to add that I think it would be a cool feature for the online modes.  I've dabbled in 3's and 1's eliminator in the past, so I can see a place where a hyper-focused jump cut to a personalized, cartoonish celebration could contribute to a really rewarding experience.  However, in offline modes that are, by design, hockey simulators, this feature is so immersion breaking I can't help but wonder how it got past the alpha testers. 

I'm an offline franchise player, and have been since the introduction of the mode.  I've seen the EA community manager, whom I believe is doing a good job of providing cover for the dev team, context for decisions, and ingesting community feedback, reference the decision to make an authentic "player" experience - effectively, what it's like to play a game of hockey.  Perfectly, understandable, and through that lens, I can see why this feature would be added.  The issue is that offline modes, like franchise, are not exclusively experienced from the viewpoint of a player, they're mostly from the perspective of a GM.  Through this lens and almost any other besides a player (fan, coach, etc.), the authentic simulation design should take higher precedence, and as such, we should be trying to achieve something close to an authentic hockey broadcast.  By taking the other approach we can start to ask questions like, why do we need score overlays, play-by-play commentary, replays, etc.  If that's the direction we're going, then fine, this is my stop, I'll get off the bus.  It would be a curious (and courageous) direction to take, because literally none of the other major sports franchises seem to be doing that.

So, I think the acceptable workaround for '24 has been stated - add an option to turn off flex celebrations, or disable for offline modes, or make the option only available to offline modes.  I simply can't believe that this team would stand by this decision as being a net positive for the offline player.  I know gameplay and online modes took precedence this cycle, so it simply has to have been an oversight for how this would look in offline games, or in the context of franchise mode.  Some players have referenced being down 5-1, late 3rd, middle of December, you score and the goal-scorer acts like a helicopter with full arena spotlight.  Or more simply, the fact that you're getting full arena spotlight effects as an away team.  Like let's be real, this idea wasn't fully thought out.  Going forward, would it be cool to see something similar, albeit somewhat better implemented for special moments?  Totally!  A rookie's first goal, a late 3rd period goal against a rival, something momentum shifting.

Lastly, I'd like to add that I am historically, pretty easy to please when it comes to this game.  I've gotten a ton of mileage out of NHL 23 with the proper sliders.  I found that I could score from more varied areas in '22, and that offensive AI found space a bit better.  I enjoy franchise mode, as it is, would really like it to get more love, but the additions this year addressed some of my biggest complaints.  Namely, the development of X-Factor abilities.  I was incredibly excited to try out the new gameplay features; one touch passes and the pressure system. 

Overall, this release looked like a step in the right direction and I'm tempted to buy it just out of support for the franchise, but I'm not sure I could fully enjoy it, being forced to watch a giant cringe-fest for every goal scored.  So, right now, I'm a year 30 buyer that'll wait for the patch that fixes this and then play the absolute crap out of it.  If it stays in, then I'll stick with '23 and the goon-squad I've turned the expansion Quebec Nordiques into.