NHL 11

[AntiLeaf33]

Finally got a nice goal from my knees....don't recall getting one last year

http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/34929281

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Looks like EA may have finally gotten rid of the "throw the puck to the guy crashing the net for the easy 1 timer" goal. I tried that with Savard feeding Lucic and Lucic got fucking railed by the D in the slot.

Yeah that was my bread and butter forever and it's way more difficult to do it now. Waiting for the roster update before the season starts to do my NHL Be a GM so I'm biding my time playing a WHL season with the Hitmen.

 

[skullman80]

Looks like EA may have finally gotten rid of the "throw the puck to the guy crashing the net for the easy 1 timer" goal. I tried that with Savard feeding Lucic and Lucic got fucking railed by the D in the slot.

Yeah that was my bread and butter forever and it's way more difficult to do it now. Waiting for the roster update before the season starts to do my NHL Be a GM so I'm biding my time playing a WHL season with the Hitmen.

EA did actually already put out a roster update, you have to go in like you are starting an online match though(at least on 360) to get it, it doesn't come up in the "download rosters" section of the game for whatever reason.

It should be fairly up to date till now it has Comrie on the Pens etc.

 

[bps21]

I just spent most of my day off playing this. Game is fucking sweet. I'm addicted to the Hockey Ultimate Team mode.

 

[the max]

Had a good Memorial Cup for a "defensive defenseman". Scored 2 goals (including a game winner in OT) and had 3 assists to help lead the Hitmen to their first Memorial Cup. I got drafted 4th overall to Columbus.

Am getting a new tv tonight so I am sure the game will look much better on a 55" LED then it does on a 32" LCD.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

Looks like EA may have finally gotten rid of the "throw the puck to the guy crashing the net for the easy 1 timer" goal. I tried that with Savard feeding Lucic and Lucic got fucking railed by the D in the slot.

Yeah that was my bread and butter forever and it's way more difficult to do it now. Waiting for the roster update before the season starts to do my NHL Be a GM so I'm biding my time playing a WHL season with the Hitmen.

EA did actually already put out a roster update, you have to go in like you are starting an online match though(at least on 360) to get it, it doesn't come up in the "download rosters" section of the game for whatever reason.

It should be fairly up to date till now it has Comrie on the Pens etc.

Yeah, its been like that for a while. Every few weeks they release a major roster patch, but all of the day to day roster updates are implemented right away for online play.

All the same, I like to start my dynasty as the season begins. Also have a feeling that I may actually play a Be a GM with the Habs, and a season with the Mooseheads this year. Sim a lot of games, but at least now I won't get sick of seeing the same teams all the time.

 

[Kageho]

Looks like for online leagues you can only do a round robin tournament. Sucky.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Thanks for the info on the rosters. Will do that next time I play.

 

[Kageho]

I'm doing pretty good as the new star right wing sniper of the Edmonton Oilers. I'm leading the team in goals and points, and Penner and I seem to be clicking because he and I are always knowing where the other is, so its pretty cool that I get some chemistry going.

I'm going to start a goalie BAP, but have him on a weak goaltending team and try to work my way up from the AHL to the NHL.

I do find it hilarious though that they've managed to some how lift Hemsky's idiocy of trying to be fancy and pass a ton. It makes me glad he's not playing on my line because boy, that man does some stupid things.

The only downside I'm not liking to the game so far is the fact that I needed to play with the sliders to fix up a badly broken game. And even then, I likely will need to work on it to put it to "authentic".

Still, quite a lot of fun.

 

[KingPK]

I skipped last year's so I'm having a hard time adjusting to the new passing mechanics. I finally figured out that holding the button down means a quicker pass that's harder to handle.

Now if I can figure out how to fucking score. Even on Pro the goalies are fucking walls.

 

[Kageho]

Before taking a shot on manual, stop moving the left just befor, and then snap the left direction stick the way you want to shoot, as you are using the right stick to take the shot.

Yeah, it takes quite a while to get used to doing that, but once you do, you'll do much better at placing the shot in the place you want to shoot. Another thing to do is learn how to help cycle the puck. The more you move a goalie around, the better the chances of you catching him out of position and slightly more fatigued.

After a few regular season games, I lead the Oilers in points with 7. I'm in a tie for 2nd place right now with a few others at 7 points. Though that bastard, Jonathan Toews is leading the league with 7 goals and a single assist.

My best game so far, is a game in which we were down 3-1 after like 10 minutes of play, but stormed back to a 6-3 victory. Had to will the team to a victory to get it done, but I was extremely happy that I did manage it.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I got drafted to Buffalo 26th overall after losing in the Memorial Cup final to the Calgary "Hitmens" with the London Knights. I'm supposed to be a defensive defenceman, but I got a bunch of assists through the pre-season, and not nearly enough hits, which is what they want out of me. I'll get the occasional good hip check on a guy, but other than that, I probably end up missing crunching a guy as he puts the pass away to someone, right in the clear of the net. Or get an interference call railing a guy into the end boards with 2:40 to play in the 3rd period of the Mem Cup final, down 2-1. :-\

 

[Kageho]

I can't for the life of me get sent down. Its way to easy to stay up in the NHL. At 18, I expect my player to be sent down regardless of how well he performs. Well, my winger was worth it, but my goaltender didn't play well enough to deserve staying up but still got to.

Also seems they fixed the 3 stars of the game, because after beating my last team 6-2 and only getting 4 assists, I actually got first star. It was kinda nice to be honored in that way.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

I can't for the life of me get sent down. Its way to easy to stay up in the NHL. At 18, I expect my player to be sent down regardless of how well he performs. Well, my winger was worth it, but my goaltender didn't play well enough to deserve staying up but still got to.

Also seems they fixed the 3 stars of the game, because after beating my last team 6-2 and only getting 4 assists, I actually got first star. It was kinda nice to be honored in that way.

4 assists is a pretty good game. Not a shock that you got first star....

 

[Kageho]

In the older NHLs even if you put up 4 assists, it used to be the guy who had the game winning goal would still go above you. Even if he had 1 goal and that was it for production. Used to piss me off something fierce.

Happy that got fixed.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I like that they don't only have the 2-3 guys from the scoring play on the celebration screen, like they did in previous years. Having everyone on the ice in there is much better.

 

[the max]

Defensive defenseman made the Blue Jackets. Yayyyy. I injured Toews in the last preseason game too. He wasn't looking where he was going and I just fucking rolled him. He's out for 2 months I think.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I put out Parise for 9-10 weeks from a shot block with his shin. Unfortunately, my hitting sucks. So my DefDef got dumped to 2nd line, because I'm getting like half a hit per game on average, when it wants me to get 260 or so for the season. Doesn't seem to make much practical difference, though, aside from my linemate. I'm still in the starting lineup, and start every period, and it still puts me out for a faceoff pretty near every time I have enough energy to do so.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

I think I need to move it down to Pro or tinker with the sliders. It's GD impossible to score.

 

[bps21]

You have to work for goals for sure. When you get an open shot you really have to know where the goalie is to try and put it where he isn't. It's so damned rewarding when you break through.

 

[the max]

Goal scoring is much more realistic. You have to work the walls, cycle, give and go, etc. I got the achievement for beating an NHL team with a junior team and scored 7 goals in 2 games.

I like how they have made the point an integral part of goalscoring. If you have a defenseman or two who has a good shot, you've got something in this game. Just like IRL.

 

[Zetterberg is God]

Oh yeah, it's incredibly satisfying to score now but on the opposite end when you outshoot the computer 22-10 and lose 2-0, it's so damn frustrating. Guess I will have to work on targeting my shots better.

 

[Kageho]

I think a tweak or two could be made. When I create more goal opportunities with my BAP than with my actual GM team, I think there's a problem there.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I've found goals come fairly easy for my Be A Pro team. I'm not exactly scoring the goals myself, granted, but as Buffalo, the team's probably scored at least 4 goals apiece for each of the first 7 or 8 games of the season. All wins. There might be something screwy with the settings, though. I find I'm the only one getting penalties, for example, and in playing a game or two of quick play, there were 3 or 4 by the AI between both short games.

 

[Kageho]

Oh I understand that. Its just annoying how I'm playing BAP and goals come when I'm playing, but I play GM which means I'm playing all the time and I'm getting nearly nothing for my efforts.

 

[KingPK]

I'm getting the hang of it myself. You really do have to pass it around and set things up. Use deflections and get at any rebounds that come off the goalie. Most of my plays start with giving it to the defender at the line and waiting for someone to pass it to or go in front of the net to screen the goalie or redirect the shot.

 

[Kageho]

Oh no, I do that. But it still doesn't seem to be working. Not sure if its just something I'm not doing or what...

 

[bps21]

The AI adapts very quickly to what you are trying to do. If you even get some good looks with one offensive idea you are going to want to change that up. I spent half a game carrying the puck in deep to set up some later shots from the point and it worked pretty well. The AI is really smart at hockey.

 

[AnonymousBroccoli]

I started a new BAP as a 2-way Centre, so now I'm trying to figure out the more offensive side of things. I've tried getting into a bit of a Ciccarelli state of mind, sticking my ass in the goalie's face, but I don't really know how to screen or deflect. I feel like one time, while holding L2 for Vision Control as someone shot from the point, the game threw in a pretty nifty animation where I stood up straight to screen the goalie, and we scored. I could be wrong, though. And I guess I've tried L2 with R1 to try to poke stuff in, but I don't know if that's right.

 

[oldskool]

On sale for PS3, $45 + tax & shipping for the next 2 hours on Amazon Gold Box Deals.