EASHL Improvements

Hockey nut here. I’ve owned and played every EA NHL since the NHLPA Sega ’92 days. I’m a lifer. In real life I coach and played at higher levels. Love hockey and have some quality-of-life suggestions below.

EASHL Club/6v6/Game play Wishlist

• Less cutscenes, if any at all, in EASHL/6v6. They're a complete waste of time. Especially unskippable highlights at the end of the period. Keep the game moving. Within two weeks after release everyone has seen enough post period “Truculence!” highlights that we can’t skip to last us all a lifetime. Get rid of them. 

• Option to switch positions and/or loadouts between periods. Add match goalie/club size back to matchmaking. 

• Kick from Club Game: I like the option for clubs to allow a drop-in to play a club game. You can potentially find new teammates, or not have to play with bots if you’re down a human or two. My club has found some solid players and new friends this way and it’s fun. However, there is no option to kick a drop-in player from your club game. Doesn't matter if it's a troll, unsportsmanlike person, or just terrible player. I get not having a “kick from game” option in drop-in games. Those are open free-for-alls. But club games are a specific group of individuals organized time to play together. People took time to build their own club. And upon making a club EA even gives you the option to set your club to private to help you control who is part of your club. But if you decide to let a drop-in “tryout” or fill a spot in your competitive club for a game, and they’re a troll or whatever, you’re stuck with them and can’t kick them from your club game. This absolutely needs to be an option. Without fail, every night at least 1 game we play is a complete waste of 30 minutes, because it was ruined by a D playing forward all game, a guy who won’t stop taking penalties, won’t pass, has a racist name, take your pick. And yet even though it's our club (set to private) we can’t flag/ban the player and kick them from our club game. They can literally hijack your club when you're just trying to play with someone new. Clubs need to be able to kick drop-ins from our actual club games and locker rooms rather than be forced to finish a game with them. They can go do that stuff on their own time in a regular drop-in if they want.

• Have playoff style events more frequently instead of 45-50 days of meaningless exhibitions before the current playoff format. Keep the current playoff format, make them more often (every 30 days or less) but I would go a step further and add optional “themed” banner challenges much like money grab themed HUT packs offered throughout the season. Make something like a “Jolly Jam Cup”( get two cracks at winning 4-5 games in a row Christmas Weekend your club gets that banner and XP rewards), “Fright Night Challenge (win 4-5 games in a row on Halloween weekend win that banner and XP rewards). “NYE Bash”, Lovers Tourney (Valentine’s), etc. It’d be cool to load in vs someone and see in their home rink rafters they’ve not only won an Elite Cup banner or two, but also some cool "challenge" banners hanging.

• EASHL 6v6 gameplay settings should tuned to a most simulation style experience possible, not the same gameplay tuner as HUT or any other the default EA mode tuner settings.

• Your players and club should get double XP for a win if your opponent rage quits.

• There should be some sort of XP bonus (+100,+200, etc.) for shutout victories and/or victories by 5+ goal margin.

• Non-centers should be able to line up anywhere they want pre-faceoff outside of the circle, on their own teams side. 

• There need to be a "thru-pass" button option like in FIFA. Soccer has a button to pass and a button to thru-pass to space. Hockey is largely about passing to space. This NHL game is the opposite, 99% based on direct passes.

• Ability to choose your CPU teammate loadout AND customize CPU teammate look. This way if you don’t have a full human squad that night at least the default CPU teammate is a build and look you like (ie: I want Lee to be a TWD, Williams to be a Grinder, or Wagner in net to be Hybrid and have retro gear, etc.)