I get wanting to have an entire team of humans, but sometimes we can't all get on at the same time. AI defense should at least be serviceable, they don't even TRY to poke check or bump. Then another play (which I do not have footage of because its just laughable at this point) the trash can that is Anthony Jackson has me wide open directly in front of him for a breakout pass, instead tries to make a cross ice pass, intercepted and you guessed it, backhand goal.
Unfortunately, the video does not show how the other team gained possession, which was likely a turnover. This is crucial in determining the main factors that lead to your opponent being able to generate so much speed.
Based on the fact that all human forwards are shown to begin transitioning to the backcheck at the opening of the video, we can only assume the puck was turned over right before the video begins.
The turnover (which was likely at the hash marks against the boards) puts the RD in a flat-footed position. This is why turnovers are so costly. You'll have some players in worse positions than others, preventing them from being effective.
In this case, the RD was hamstrung by a turnover. He takes a moment to react (which is 100% realistic) and then begins back skating. The opponent times the pass right when the Ai-D begins their transition to back skating, so there's no interception.
During this quick succession of events, #47 (the eventual recipient of the pass) is able to generate a ton of speed, unimpeded in any way. because the turnover has thrown everyone out of position.
Now, the CPU D-men should have the capacity to match hustle with the player they should be covering even when they don't have the puck. This clip is good because it shows how the CPU D will not hustle until their checked player actually has the puck. (watch how the CPU D has two hands on his stick and instantly transitions to one hand on the stick the exact frame the pass is completed)
This explains why they can never seem to catch up to a player that's already been hustling before they get the puck. The CPU D then has to try and 'catch up' with a puck carrier that may or may not have a higher SPD attribute (ACC is irrelevant by this time) than them.
The other frustrating thing is that the CPU is will within the range to execute a stick lift or a DSS-poke check on a few occasions and they just passively let the shooter have their way:
At the end of the day, there were human errors that led to this opportunity but I will say that the CPU needs to be a little more aggressive when getting in such close proximity to a puck carrier and they also need the ability to match hustle against a player who is hustling without the puck.
I guess the point I'm trying to convey is that the success of the puck carrier in burning your D actually starts long before that, although there are improvements to be made on CPU D.
An opponent being able to corral a rebound, generate speed through their own zone and eventually make a pass to a speeding player through the neutral zone means there's little to no impedance to generating that speed.
I get the point, but the issue is the defenseman is still in position to do literally anything to try and take the puck from the player receiving the pass and just doesn't. The player receiving the pass isn't what frustrates me, cause you can't hit him before he gets the puck (unless you wanna be called for it) its literally that the defense just lets him go right by instead of making some type of move.
While I don’t think the D should just get blown by, it’s time to adjust. Everyone complains about it but no one adapts to it. Have your center support the defense and don’t have 3 players wildly forecheck. Not the ideal situation but in general a two man forecheck is going to be more stable defensively anyways.
I personally have not seen a difference in the way the AI plays this year versus previous years. I’m not sure what “ICE-Q” is supposed to ultimately have changed, but it doesn’t seem like it has changed anything at all.
But at the same time, 3v3 shouldn’t be completely unplayable with an AI defenseman. It’s so incredibly easy for any decently-fast skater to blow their doors off and skate right by them on every rush. Not just a few rushes here and there, every single one.
