This year there was really good change this to be best hockey ever. Play hockey pass shoot one timers etc.But no. Everybody has 95 speed small winger and they fly past defenders and forehand backhand and score every time.So utterly stupid way to play hockey. Speed is still king nothing else matters. Small and lighting fast forwards are just way too OP.So sad. I really thought this is gonna be the year we get to play proper hockey.

But same time forward would pick slapshots with their Back turned to the play.

No matter how much they slow the skaters down there will still always be builds that are the fastest. And the way EASHL has worked for several years now is that speed is king, and so speed remains king.I think there's ways they could make flat-out speed more balanced:It should be trivial to knock the puck away from skaters hustling down the ice with only one hand on their stick. Poke checks, body contact, the boards, etc should cause them to lose the puck. But right now that puck is glued onto their stick as if they're not skating flat out.On a similar note, skaters in full-out hustle should have less agility and be easier to knock over or off the puck.Make a slight delay between exiting the hustle animation and allowing the player to pass or shoot the puck. Not a huge delay, but there should be something to reflect the time needed to get the second hand on the stick and settle the puck.Push stamina reduction even further for players skating at full hustle.( This will never happen, but.... ) Personally, I'd love to see a change back to the NHL 16 days where builds were fixed and all of the skating attributes were the same for all builds. The differentiators were things like shooting for snipers, passing for playmakers, etc. It allowed for defensive or physical builds to be more viable because they could keep up with everyone else. I know this idea is wildly unpopular, but for all the "I want to be able to customize my build my way" talk there just seems to be an endless ocean of min-size, max-speed builds out there.

You say this as though it matters what the defense does lmao.https://www.xbox.com/play/media/ENXkDYvS4N90+ defensive awareness, in the passing lane. Puck goes through anyway. https://www.xbox.com/play/media/UqwkfaLLvv20-second mark. 94 defensive awareness + gold Quick Pick, in the lane, game even starts to give me an interception animation. Puck goes through my player and stick anyway. Just remove defense and goalies from the game and let the forwards take turns throwing pucks at an empty net. All this game is, anyway.

The overall speed of the game was a bit too fast in years prior, but slowing the entire game down as a whole isn't the fix because the actual issue was the forwards were so insanely fast that it completely limited what styles of play you could realistically play.At the more competitive club level, you couldn't really be a big, shutdown, physical defenseman because the 5'7 160lb 95 speed gold elite edges forwards could just run straight past you. So, if you wanted to keep up, you HAD to use a small PMD build with maxed out speed and agility. This came at the cost of defensive abilities, because even though forwards could be great at shooting, passing, and quickness simultaneously, defensemen had to pick which area we were gonna suffer at, statistically speaking. Most of us chose to be as quick as possible and be able to move the puck up easier. As a result, games looked like roller hockey games where there was VERY LITTLE physicality at all, and as a result the forwards knew it didn't matter how big they were because nobody was going to be doing much hitting at all.I think there should be some changes to the individual positions. EA did get rid of the speed and agility boosts TECHNICALLY, but they also made it so that you can get to 95 speed/acceleration/agility WITHOUT any boosts, so it really doesn't change anything. There needs to be more variety in builds, which means that forwards need to be limited in how many things they can be great at, because right now they have every single tool needed to dominate on offense while defensemen and goalies are left with nothing. 94 defensive awareness + gold quick pick + good positioning should at LEAST be able to break up this play, and yet...(20-second mark): https://www.xbox.com/play/media/UqwkfaLLvvhttps://www.xbox.com/play/media/ENXkDYvS4NBut, this is EA, so they're not going to change anything. Forwards will be allowed to constantly bee line and force every pass through.

CHEL small and fast backhand meta. So disappointed.

24 Replies

SummerOfDekes
New Ace
4 months ago
https://www.xbox.com/play/media/LicviBDcds
I think this is the only other clip I've recorded.
This particular play I'm not even that upset with just because you could argue that I'm not 100% in the lane, and sometimes passes SHOULD elude defenders just to add some sense of randomness and realism to the game.
I think what annoys me is that the game often leaves me wondering exactly what I'm supposed to do. I try skating with my back to the play and I miss the puck. I backskate and I miss the puck. I stand directly in the lane and I miss the puck. I stand slightly outside of the lane and I miss the puck. I've tried 94 defensive awareness with gold quick pick, 90ish defensive awareness with no quick pick at all. Nothing seems to really work reliably.
A lot of this really wouldn't be an issue, imo, if the forwards recieving the pass also had the same level of trouble picking up passes. Like, the only time I think I ever see a player not perfectly recieve a pass from his teammate is if the two players are really close to each other and it's a hard pass, or if it's like a stretch pass and the player receiving the pass turns the opposite direction of where the pass is going.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
4 months ago
If a defender is playing in what is normally a forward position, the passing you're talking about works fine. So, it's not so much dependent on being a defender or a forward. The pass is targeted at the receiving player. This is different than being in a passing lane, having the puck/play within your field of vision, attributes, gliding vs skating, etc. The players making/receiving the pass are in position and ready for it so I can how that has a higher success rate than breaking up passes.

I'm in agreement with you that defenders could break up plays better. Especially, when facing the puck like in the most recent clip. I play D pretty much exclusively and I can't exactly depend on just being in good position. I get the frustration for sure since it makes an already challenging position to play that much more difficult. I'm sending this over to the team. Thank you.
Tylytys
New Scout
4 months ago
EA_Aljo
Here is one clip where D basically does nothing. Starting around 20sec
https://www.xbox.com/play/media/DZgVH3jdRq
Laytexx
Newcomer
30 days ago
In 2023 I know hugging the posts really slowed a guy down, take the auto hug posts off, helps 1T’s, major

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CHEL small and fast backhand meta. So disappointed.

24 Replies

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