Offensive awareness

IMO the loose pucks part pertains more to shots blocked or saves from the goalie that are loose.  What I notice most about the defensive awareness is the reaction speed to stop passes. My forward builds rock 85 Off Awareness and low Puck Control.  I don't feel puck control being in the 90 helps all that much compared to the low 80s.

But as for picking up "loose" pucks that were poked I would assume the offensive player is closer to the puck and thus needs less time to react.

In most cases, they are getting the puck back due to positioning. When the puck is lost, it can't actually be picked up right away by the player that lost it. It's just a couple of frames so this goes by quickly. The player that gets to the puck first is normally going to pick it up. The defender is often not in the best position to pick it up though. Often, they are backskating while the offensive player is skating towards the puck. So, better positioning and who gets to the puck first are the main contributors to who picks it up.

Thank you for this information. However, I am interested in the players core question...does offensive awareness help a player pickup a puck lost by an opponent? 

By the descriptions given in the game, it seems you would only need defensive awareness for most defensive scenarios so I am focused on that in my builds. But even at 97DA and much closer to the puck after poking it lose, the offensive player will many times still reach in a grab it from distance. If OA is needed to help with these extremely unrealistic puck pickups, the player base should be made aware.  

Offensive awareness helps pick up loose pucks in offensive situations. Mainly off actions your teammates are involved in like passes and deflections.

We really need to see videos of the times you're not picking up pucks that you think you should be. If you have any, please pass on links to them.

Here's a couple clips, EA_Aljo 

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/zd7GCEfGpm

This clip, I think the issue might have been my player's arm seemingly breaking at the socket, so potentially an issue with the physics? Still, it's annoying. Even if it's not an issue with defensive puck pickups themselves, it's at the least a problem that needs addressed with the physics or something. 

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/p8Q3zrZJhF

This one, I understand why I ultimately don't come away with the puck, because I tried to stick lift at the very end. My issue is the part prior to that. I narrowly lose a race to the loose puck, but I'm able to make body-on-body contact with my opponent as well as getting my stick on the puck, so it becomes a 50/50. Still, despite having very high defensive awareness (94-97), I still can't win the battle for the puck.

Again, I understand that the stick lift at the end ultimately loses the battle, but the reason I stick lifted in the first place was because I could tell from prior experience that I wasn't going to win the puck.

https://www.xbox.com/play/media/2HXDeTJJJe

I'm not upset about getting burned by the player in this scenario, as I know I got burned because I stopped skating. That's fine. My confusion is why I can't come away with this puck after I successfully pokecheck, the puck ends up closer to my player, and I have high defensive awareness (mid 90s.)

In regards to the last clip, I'd like to add that, imo, it feels a bit unbalanced that whether or not my pokecheck is successful, I get penalized by being slowed down or my opponent gets a great chance at immediately regaining the puck. If players are going to be able to immediately regain pucks after a successful pokecheck, it seems harsh to punish defenders by slowing them down to a crawl.

Like, if you're defending 1-on-1 and both guys are in a beeline style race down the ice, if you successfully pokecheck your opponent, chances are he's going to just pick the puck up again straight away. And, even though your pokecheck was successful, you get a speed deduction for your trouble. So, now you've just been punished for making a good play. How is that rewarding?

Anyhow, I'd love to hear your feedback. I hope that you can see that it's not just the opponent being closer to the puck that makes the difference, as I'm either as close or closer to the puck in these clips and still can't pickup the puck with very high defensive awareness.

It would be great to see a perfect physics system. Improvements have been made over the years and hopefully, we'll see this continue.

A stick in that situation would very often work. I think the issue this time is sticks passing through the boards. You wouldn't be able to pick up the puck then. Backing away from the boards may help pick it up.

In the last clip, the puck is at your feed whereas it's easily within reach of your opponent. Personally, the slow down with poke checks is one of my biggest gripes. I'd be all for it being lessened at a minimum.

Thanks for the feedback and spending time gathering clips.