I agree 100%. When I first played it after they removed the Tripping festival I thought it was good, but after a handful of games I'm realizing there is so much now missing. In fact someone else mentioned it and I agree. It now feels and plays just like NHL15. The game was near perfect before the September 28/30 tuner and I find it odd that all the things done in that tuner were not things I had seen people complaining about. Before that tuner NHL16 was well on its way to being the game we all wanted. Not perfect but many things were noticeable that were not in previous releases, like but not limited to....
Slightly Better Board Play
Slightly Better CPU defense
Slightly Better (Not Perfect) CPU teammate defense and AI
CPU Dump and chase
CPU offsides
CPU Icing puck
Pucks out of play
All these things are gone, Goalies are worse, and the overall feel of the game took a step backward. Very disappointed