[GlennN]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

I think it's mostly due to their positioning, and how they play the puck. The players don't really seem to react to what's happening on the ice, so much as they seem to play their specific position. I say this based on the number of times you will see a potential 2 on 1 or 2 on 3 turn into a 1 on 1, because the players on your team stop skating and take "their position". So in the NHL, a defender may well skate in through the middle, and crash the net with a forward to generate a scoring chance...but it seems that more often than not, they slow down in the game to take their place by the blue line once they're in the offensive zone. On the defensive side of things, I honestly don't know what the AI is doing sometimes. I have had so many goals scored because my AI defender (we'll say the LD) either skates in behind the opposition forward, but never actually tries to catch them...they just skate at the same speed a few feet behind. So the AI defender is never trying to hit their stick, knock the puck loose, or anything like that, they're just coasting along until that forward stops, at which point if they stop by the net, the LD might bump into them and start the tie-up animation. Similarly, I've had a lot of times where as the RD I will pursue a forward into the right corner to try and get the puck. Normally this means the LD will then slightly shift towards the middle of the net, but not leave the net unless the puck goes into their left corner. But a lot of times the LD will also follow my RD into the corner, as a winger comes down the boards, all 3 of them trying to get the puck, and no one covering the front of the net. Generally the center seems to get tied up in the high slot, but this almost always leads to a goal against, as there's an unguarded forward just waiting for a pass. Generally when I notice this, I'm frantically switching, but since you tend to switch to the player closest to the puck, it's not a guarantee you get to the LD, or a guarantee that you make it back to the net before the pass.

And this is one of my main problems with the NHL series. This should be a function of the ratings, in particular the offensive/defensive awareness. I play offline, so if the players play similarly, there is little reason to carefully build a roster. If my D have high defensive awareness, I should not have to switch to control them for them to know what to do.