My god if that unrealistic speedboost hitting is still in nhl 25..

You've been on the old forums and have seen the complaints of hitting too easy and too hard.  I actually never use the face buttons for hitting and just the right stick so yes for me it's about timing.  Much like EA_Aljo had said before when they nerfed the hitting speed/contact the complaints piled in so it was reverted back.   Guess we shall have to wait until the 27th or if lucky earlier to find out.

There is always a ton of things that can't be talked about that should get answers to imo, but alas that doesn't happen.

So true, most revealing info comes out when you start playing and people do gameplay videos

The speedboost hitting better not be there in nhl 25 EA_Aljo :) 

Hip Checks have always been strong for small players, a lot of people just didn't know how to do them before they changed the controls. Though, early on this year before they patched it they were absurd with the lock-on they would get. Nowadays I don't stress about them too much since you can usually see them coming from a mile away. If Brad Marchand is hunched over coming for your kneecaps, it doesn't really matter how big you are. 

Really the only change I'd like to see is for the animation to not be possibe to just be "held down" indefinitely. It should behave like the big hits where your character lunges and is uncontrollable for a second, the way you angle your skates for a hip check will take you out of the play if you whiff in real life, it should do the same in this, and the animation should end shortly after it starts so you have to time it better. 

Hipchecks themselves aren't the issue (and despite popular belief, they are something that does occur in real life and is relatively easy to do), it's the fact people were unwilling (or unable?) to learn the new shoulder check mechanics and hipchecks only really taking technical contact into account-- this led people to soley rely on the unbalanced hipchecks which was essentially recreating the Truculence meta.

All we need is for proper hipcheck momentum + energy reduction tuning and a more fluid way to check at a moments notice.