Just a few specific critiques and likes after using player lock and playing more games...
1. The CPU does too many "rink wide passes".. also on 2 on 1s, the offensive players separate themselves too much i.e. a player will make a long pass and the other player will shoot when he is almost past the goal line.
2. I saw a little bit of the "Dman to winger, winger to dman" stuff today while playing goalie.
At the same time I think the AI still tries to cycle far too much without taking a shot.
3. The D tends to back up too much and leave the slot open. while playing goalie today Chris Pronger of all people snuck in took a pass and shot, which I would have saved but it deflected off one of my defenders (who backed into my crease) and went in.
more things I liked:
1. You can have scrums like in a real game in front of the goalie now, and knock in loose pucks. Hope there's no "intent to blow" rule in the game
2. The goalie controls have been perfected and you seem to be rewarded now for having good position.
3. If you see the goalie out of position or leave an opening, you have a good chance to score with a skilled player. Much more realistic.