Defensive interceptions and forced passes

What appears to be happening in that clip is that your defensive player attempts to pick up the puck on a location further along the puck's path than the offensive player.  As a result the offensive player gets to the puck first and gains possession.

It can be frustrating because it's out of your direct control.  You put your player in decent position to disrupt the play, but the animations chosen by the game result in you coming out on the bad end of the interaction.

I've had this happen to me several times.  In good position, but the game wants the defender to try to pick up the puck on the far side of his body when the offensive player reaches in and gets it first.   I'm sure it happens the other way around too.  I haven't been able to figure out exactly what triggers players to pick up puck early or late along the path of the pass, but I wonder if in this case it being a saucer pass was a factor.

I'll see what I can find out. Keep in mind though that even real world pros don't pick up every interception they seemingly should as well. You're never really guaranteed an interception is going to happen. Your chances are higher though due to positioning and ability ratings. Typically, as gamers, we feel there should always be a guaranteed outcome if we're playing right. Hockey is an incredibly random sport and we try to replicate that in the game. It's no easy task to get perfect. I just think it might be best to set expectations more accordingly for plays like this where there isn't an obvious issue not causing the pick up.

I'll let you know when I have more details.

When they introduced a 1-touch button ability to spam the Michigan, with a supporting superstar ability, you knew that defense had just been completely thrown out the window for the series. The player base is already so small, that if people couldn't pick up the game and immediately start scoring there'd be no one to play against. 

I appreciate your response, and I definitely agree that disruptions and interceptions shouldn't be guaranteed. I've always said the issue isn't that these plays happen, but rather the rate at which they occur. It feels like these situations happen so often that it doesn't feel rewarding to play solid defense.

Defense isn't completely thrown out the window because of one button Michigans. It's incredibly easy to defend. Regardless, defense is a challenging position to play. That's understandable. I exclusively play D. However, it's far from an impossible position to play. There are many very skilled defenders. There's a lot more to it than just utilizing the available tools. Positioning, managing energy, identifying threats and tendencies of your opponents are all key.

That's understandable. I've certainly had my own frustrating moments like this. I'd love to see defense improved without making it overpowered

Thats where the serie took a wrong turn. You straight up victimizing that dman. In real life, players have 100% control of their body, they only have themself to blame if the puck goes through. If the player is in good position, and spent a reasonable amount of attribute points, he should 100% get the puck, the onus should be on the passer to not force it. Otherwise it's neither realistic nor fair outcome for the defender in a competitive videogame.

I think some of the issues might be due to the way players are able to receive passes from teammates vs. opponents while skating. I've been told on these forums multiple times, and it seems to be true, that your ability to intercept a pass from an opponent is affected by whether you're skating or gliding. And, in my experience, that's 100% correct. I make way more interceptions/disruptions when I glide. But, there's a problem.

I recorded these clips using a nerf'd build where I took the puck control all the way down to 81 and offensive awareness down to 80. While skating in full stride, I had zero problems receiving passes from my teammates.

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/GWx7M3teDg

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/CSL6fJnK8z

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/9GJDj4uKYJ

Now, if I was skating like that while trying to defend a 2-on-1 or something, there's almost no chance I'm grabbing that puck.

To me, asking defenders to stop skating when they're having to keep up with 95 speed/acceleration/agility players is insane. At the very least, having super high defensive awareness should negate some of the effect of skating vs. gliding.

Appreciate the feedback on this. Thank you.

How is it realistic for a player to 100% intercept the puck? There are instances where they don't make interceptions in the real world despite good positioning. I also see more intercepts than not in the game. Good positioning is very often rewarded. Many of the videos we get also show reaction time being the issue. When passes come from too close to the defender. I'm not saying that's the case here, but it's also something to keep in mind when feeling like a pass should have been intercepted.