No acknowledgement from EA...stick lift.

 I go into every game session expecting to have a failed matchmaking, one of my teammates having to dashboard out

If this is happening in every single game for everyone, that would mean the game is broken. That's just not the case. Yes, I've experienced lobby/matchmaking errors. They're frustrating. Thankfully, we can back out, restart the game and we're good to go. It's absolutely frustrating when it happens though. I feel ya there.

an inexplicable short side goal let in by the goalie.

Short side goals are a part of the sport. This does not mean the game is broken. They can also be defended.

the number of overdue gameplay fixes that have been acknowledged

I totally understand how frustrating it is when issues aren't addressed during a game's lifecycle. With a game as incredibly complicated as NHL, making one small change can drastically effect other areas that would be even more annoying to deal with. Which is why in many cases, issues that effect gameplay mechanics often need to wait for a future game. 

"Unfortunately, I don't think it will be addressed in NHL 26".  To me it adds up to a broken game.

I'm trying to acknowledge the feedback and set expectations. The reality is that it's now almost June. We typically are done with gameplay updates and tuners by now. I'd rather be up front about that than keep everyone hoping, for example, that LT'ing and stick lifts are going to be addressed in 26. Again, these are more complicated issues. I have said it many times, if they were easy to fix, they would have been done.

this game is in a sorry state and it looks like it will not be improved upon in this iteration.

My friends and I really have very few issues. We win more than we lose, poke checks are weak, but they work, we're not constantly getting sniped on the short side, LT'ing is very annoying, but we deal with it. I do absolutely hate truculence and late hits. That bothers me more than anything else. Still though, in the majority of games against players abusing these, we win. No, that doesn't mean it's ok. It means we're having fun though and that's the goal of the game. In the end, more fun is had than not. Of course, fun is subjective and it's obvious that's not the case for you. In no way am I saying all's well though. I just don't think the game is in a sorry state. Yes, there's a lot that needs to be addressed. I'm fully in agreement with you there. I know it's sounding old, but we are aware of the community's concerns. There just isn't anything we can share on what's coming at this time. 

Edit: I just saw your other response and wanted to address it here.

• One or more of our players dropping right as the game loads (forcing us to back out).
• Entire team gets kicked in a "Game failed to load" message error.
• The matchmaking lobby hanging at certain points where it just won't find a match no matter how long we search and we have to all back out of the lobby before it will find a match again.
• The captain getting stuck trying to cancel a game search and their game hanging forcing them to dashboard close out in order to do anything.
• Desync issues where all players simultaneously in game only sees themselves moving and all other teammates and opponents standing still.

• One or more of our players dropping right as the game loads (forcing us to back out).

Make sure nobody makes any loadout changes or moves to a different tab once matchmaking has started. Everyone just be completely ready to go BEFORE matchmaking starts.  That will help avoid this.

• Entire team gets kicked in a "Game failed to load" message error.

This most likely has to do with the above. If someone drops, you need to reset the lobby. Just have everyone either back out to the main menu and reload WoC or completely exit out of NHL 26 and restart.

• The matchmaking lobby hanging at certain points where it just won't find a match no matter how long we search and we have to all back out of the lobby before it will find a match again.

Yep. Had this one happen too. It sucks and it's annoying. Again, restarting WoC normally resolves it.

• The captain getting stuck trying to cancel a game search and their game hanging forcing them to dashboard close out in order to do anything.

This is another we've all experienced. I'd love to see it fixed.

• Desync issues where all players simultaneously in game only sees themselves moving and all other teammates and opponents standing still.

This is one I haven't experienced yet. I know some of you have though. If you can get a video, let me know. I'll make sure to get it reported.