The issue is that the stamina doesn't work well for online play but playing offline (franchise) it does have some realism to it, whereas if you roll 4 lines, not push the stamina all the way to red for any line, utilize dumping the puck and goalie stoppages, the stamina isn't really an issue (at least from my experience after about 55 games or so). It does have some risk to it, where if you keep a line out longer then you should and get their stamina in the red or take too many penalties and burn the stamina of your penalty killers, it can cause more issues overall but that is also how it is in hockey. Stamina for a player is a constant drop and would be tired by the end of the period. I always have one line full or almost full, one at 75%, one at 25% and one less or the same depending on the shift. This games requires more of a balance then 24 did where it was an arcade experience and pushed the speed and stamina well above what a hockey player would have.