That's what's always driven me insane. The inability to actually control what i do isn't as bad when i just don't get to decide if my player tries to bat a puck out of the air or tie up with another player (as infuriating as that animation is...), but when i can't control when my player tries to hit the puck, or even receive a puck sliding towards me, and it's left entirely up to the computer, it causes a problem.
EA's problem seems to have become that they got away from an animation oriented game. They wanted gameplay to look more natural, so they got rid of a lot of the canned animations that would lead to weird collisions and dekes, opting to go for as much physics based material as possible. The downside is, they've never give the player the control they need for their players.
Defensive controls are still years behind the deking and shooting of the offensive skill stick, but the worst part of it is, even trying to do well with the limited means you're given, it's still a roll of the dice if your player even notices the puck sliding past him.
My idea for defensive controls have been beaten to death by me, where you use the left trigger to act as a modifier for what the right stick does. Say, not holding anything causes you to poke check in that direction, while holding L2 you would pivot to face the offensive player (something that i hate that they got rid of. Skating backwards was nice with L2, but the inability to hold it and actually pivot in place leads to all sorts of goofy defending) and then maybe holding L1 would give you the option to hit up, and the speed that you hit it up equals the force that you go for the stick lift. Too hard/too far out and you're likely to get a highsticking call, holding L1 and pushing down could try to slash at another player's stick, but, would limit your ability to stick lift briefly. Maybe have pushing left and right on the stick to try and wrap your stick around with the speed and number of stick taps in either direction increasing your likelihood of a hooking/holding call.
I just want EA to make defense more than a semi-controlled coin-toss. I want to be rewarded for good positioning and punished when i take too many risks in an attempt to keep our lead.
Swiping at the puck was a cool idea, but it's not very easy to pull off, and not very handy when you do.
Hopefully with NHL16 EA gets a whole new team, and some new creative ideas, because while the offensive side got off to a jump and has slowly improved, and defensive side has become frustrating and boring to play.
If i have to have another year of seeing a 5mph pass slide past 2 forwards, past my defender, and through my skates as i stand trying frantically to find the pixel on my screen to pick it up, as the goalie goes into some spastic dance, while he shakes in place watching it slide through his pads...i may have to swear off digital hockey forever.