Poke checks.
I play hockey and I watch hockey. But im not an NHLer so ill refer to what I see on tv. Watching a game, and thinking about how poke checking causes penalties in NHL 24, I count about 700 trippi...
Forum Discussion
@EA_Aljo The risk/reward balance with poke checks is skewed because of offensive bias.
I would be fine with pokes "missing" because your stick gets "blocked" by a leg, for example. That's an acceptable outcome. That should happen more frequently than a trip.
Poking in bad position (the 180° back half of a puck carrier), or when sweeping a stick "through" a player, can carry a higher risk of a penalty. That's also an acceptable outcome.
The reward aspect should be successful dislodging of the puck when clean contact is made. This is the biggest issue. The puck doesn't leave the carrier's sphere of influence often enough and is "magnetized" back to their stick. They don't have to stop or adjust to regain control. They can simply keep skating at full speed when it should be the defender being rewarded for taking the risk and being successful. Success should mean the puck is knocked beyond the carrier's immediate reach, giving both players an equal opportunity to adjust and gain possession.
As far as different tools, it's typical to follow up a poke with body contact, especially against the boards. You disrupt the puck to slow down the carrier so you can engage (tie up or pin). That's roughly the equivalent of the chip and chase deke from the other side.
Boxing out is technically there, but not implemented effectively, same for stick tie ups in front of the net and board play.
The dump and chip are nerfed beyond effectiveness (too low and slow). There should be a slow high dump and a fast low dump. Not a slow AND low dump. Charge for high and slow (because you want to avoid icing), where low and fast is more of a panic move on a loose puck under pressure and has a high chance of icing.
There are ways to improve defense but it doesn't feel like anyone is looking into it. What the defense is able to do is being dictated by what is needed to let the forwards shine. It should be more towards forwards adapting to defense and learning to "take what is given".
I would be fine with pokes "missing" because your stick gets "blocked" by a leg, for example. That's an acceptable outcome. That should happen more frequently than a trip.
Poking in bad position (the 180° back half of a puck carrier), or when sweeping a stick "through" a player, can carry a higher risk of a penalty. That's also an acceptable outcome.
The reward aspect should be successful dislodging of the puck when clean contact is made. This is the biggest issue. The puck doesn't leave the carrier's sphere of influence often enough and is "magnetized" back to their stick. They don't have to stop or adjust to regain control. They can simply keep skating at full speed when it should be the defender being rewarded for taking the risk and being successful. Success should mean the puck is knocked beyond the carrier's immediate reach, giving both players an equal opportunity to adjust and gain possession.
As far as different tools, it's typical to follow up a poke with body contact, especially against the boards. You disrupt the puck to slow down the carrier so you can engage (tie up or pin). That's roughly the equivalent of the chip and chase deke from the other side.
Boxing out is technically there, but not implemented effectively, same for stick tie ups in front of the net and board play.
The dump and chip are nerfed beyond effectiveness (too low and slow). There should be a slow high dump and a fast low dump. Not a slow AND low dump. Charge for high and slow (because you want to avoid icing), where low and fast is more of a panic move on a loose puck under pressure and has a high chance of icing.
There are ways to improve defense but it doesn't feel like anyone is looking into it. What the defense is able to do is being dictated by what is needed to let the forwards shine. It should be more towards forwards adapting to defense and learning to "take what is given".
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community ManagerI know it's frustrating to have the puck picked up again after it's dislodged. This isn't exactly unrealistic though either. If you get a good, solid poke on it, the puck will be dislodged enough so they don't pick it up again. What I frequently see, and have experienced, is poking when backskating with the carrier in front of you. The gap is far enough that weak contact is made with the puck so it's not dislodged very far. Which, is why in that situation I'm normally using DSS to sweep the puck away instead of just doing a straight up poke on it. When the puck doesn't move much from a weak poke, it's easy for the carrier to pick it up again. This happens due to their positioning mainly. Attributes are also a factor. Mainly though, they're just in a better position because the defender is now backskated further away from the puck while the carrier skated closer to it. Close the gap and hit more of the puck and you should see it dislodged further. Of course, there is the risk of missing that poke, losing speed and getting burned. This is something that drives me nuts. I think the slow down for poking is too harsh and would love to see that removed or adjusted.
I also would love to see dumping become more viable. At least lower the height players can leap to grab them out of the air. I really hope this happens. While I'm not having trouble clearing the zone, it would be good to have those panic dumps back when you just need to clear the zone. That said, I very frequently chip passes off the boards for breaking out. It works very well when you have opposing players near the boards expecting a pass. I can just bank it around them instead.
Thanks for all the constructive feedback. I can't tell you how much that's appreciated. I'll make sure this gets passed on.
@kezz123 Thanks for the input.
@EA_AljoThanks for the response.
Just an example, a small thing, for weak pokes and retaining control.
The defense is slowed by a poke check. They can't use their feet and hands at the same time.
Just make the forward have to go into a glide in order to regain control. They can't use their feet and hands at the same time either.
Add some balance to the interaction.
The forward can skate full speed and risk losing the puck or they can glide and sacrifice speed for puck control.- @RicochetII I fully agree, great point. Thank you. "Sacrifice speed for puck control" - that's the solution. You can't skate at full speed through the defense and regain control of the puck so easily. This is the biggest issue in HNL 24. The more speed you have, the less control you should have to regain the puck for example in case of poke check.
- EA_Aljo
There's a speed penalty for carrying the puck. Regardless, I get the point here. I also think the point is being lost that if you're not getting a solid poke on the puck and it's more of a light contact, it's not going to be difficult to regain control. You all are welcome to submit videos of when you think pucks should be dislodged more. That would really help to understand what the issue is. And before you all tell me to just play the game, I do and I experience the same thing. The difference is that I know why it happens and I'm trying to relay that here. If videos show there is a clear issue though, we'll look into that.
@EA_Aljo, at high speed, puck control should be lowered. You can't skate 95 and regain the puck easily. In case that you successfully regain the puck e.g. after the poke check, you should lose speed automatically, exactly the same way like defender is losing speed after he make a poke check. This should add balance to the game.
