Light Work/Extra Padding Increase
Last year EA released a scaling increase for these two abilities based on height, I loved this idea as a way to get smaller goalies to be more impactful, however I believe the increase is still too small at this time. The 3% at 6'4 and taller still has shots from abilities such as close quarters and make it snappy hitting the goalie squarely and ending up in the net through varies bounces. And the increase at smaller heights has the goalie needing to be so close to where the shot is happening that it takes them out of position from any pass that should happen. Once in awhile this would be expected as hockey is a very random event type sport, however this is something that not only occurs every game but almost anytime these abilities activate, making saves more of a luck based situation then feeling like you can do something better from a goaltender position. In addition to this, I believe what youre losing in net coverage is not worth what youre gaining by the lightwork or extra padding increase.
In real life circumstances a goalie can watch the puck release off the stick and have good reactions to save most shots even from the slot area, however in the game we have to resort to putting ourselves in position to accomplish FULL net coverage. Even at 6'5 this is a very difficult task as even with shots from the high slot require us to be roughly 3ft in front of the blue paint. This is just unrealistic.
I would like to see these abilities increased to where they feel like they actually are impactful, especially in smaller goalies where you are trading something very valuable. Ultimately a team who is able to cut and get passes through will always be able to score and win the game however at this time it feels more like goalie is just a dummy position to fill and not a highly skilled position able to bail out any potential faults of the teams defense.
I appreciate your time and consideration on this topic and look forward to any positive changes to making goalies feel like a valuable resource again.
