Interesting post. A couple of things come to mind for me:
I wonder if next year's game will implement a way to do the "Bedard/Matthews" shot in all it's glory. You can doe toe-drag shots now but they're not exactly the same as what these dudes are doing in the show. Anyway, those are my thoughts.
Adding on to this, just did some looking deeper, after realizing that 4 of the top 10 players in snap shot totals (this season) are from the Oilers, 3 are from the Devils.
There are DEFINITELY some arenas that count snap shots more than others. NJD and EDM are two of them.
Here's an example: Over the last three seasons, Jack Hughes has:
- 146 snap shots on goal in 91 home games
- 36 snap shots on goal in 81 road games
Leon Draisaitl?
- 160 snap shots on goal in 109 home games
- 75 snap shots on goal in 109 road games
Here's a crazier one. Michael McLeod.
- 46 snap shots on goal in 102 home games
- 9 snap shots on goal in 100 road games
Boosting this because my talking point of "the wrist shot is the easiest shot / controls should be changed" is actually something I'm going to walk back upon (MOSTLY - I still think that the skill stick control could use a SLIGHT adjustment - in my opinion, holding the puck out to your forehand (3/9 o'clock) and rolling to 12 should be enough, think the requirement to "pull back" could be ditched, but that's just me.)
However, there's still something to be talked about here. But I guess, since human players have full control over the ability to take a wrist shot, this now becomes a quality of life suggestion for AI puck carriers. All things considered - they just don't take wrist shots. When I check the action tracker's net chart during my games, the AI could get as many as 40-45 shots against me at times and maybe ONE will be a wrist shot. This is a smaller part of a bigger issue for the offensive AI - they don't know how to use all of the tools at their disposal (effectively or just in general). I never see them preform the slip deke on the wall, the "self pass" off the wall, they don't exactly preform general loose puck dekes at optimal times, etc.
Specific to wrist shots, this might have something to do with the way the game plays while the offensive AI attempts to cycle the puck. It feels like receiving a pass in this game handicaps your mobility for a moment, and the defensive AI is extremely aggressive. When an offensive AI skater receives a pass from a teammate while a cycle is developing, it seems like the pass STOPS the receiver's momentum. Now, this isn't exactly an exaggerated time frame, but by the time the receiver exits the "pass receiving/cradling" animation, there's already a defending skater about to run right through them. The wrist shot takes an extra instance to perform, and the offensive AI is incapable of getting that time while in the zone. If they're on the rush, I don't see wrist shots either, however this is something I'll have to test more.
