[Russic]

Originally Posted by Bibtin Tex

Improvements that I saw:
-you can get instigators
-you can get coincidental roughing penalties if you scrum too much, but I can't make the CPU get one after they start hitting me and don't stop.
-it's pretty much impossible to play alone and try to deke everyone, the CPU is very good defensively and you have to pass and play with all 5 guys.
-the goalies react to every situation, when you come out from behind the net they don't necessarily hug the post, but rather lunge at you and be a lot more aggressive than last year.
-I played regular mode, not hardcore, and the passing is hard enough there because almost nothing is tape-to-tape, and defenders try to deflect everything that comes their way, or intercept it.
-when the game is loading, and it shows all the controls, you can switch through different things like controls, goalie stats, team vs team stats, hot players, and cold players.
-they have the new ref uniforms, but still only one ref
-the penalty box camera is a lot higher, but I'd like it if you could look around.
-hitting is hard when it's at open ice, but I injured Holmstrom with a hipcheck at the half-boards.
-stick lifting isn't as effective as last year, but I still got a dumb tripping penalty when I tried to poke the puck from someone at the boards.
-curve shots don't work, and the goalies don't do the stupid shriveling movement when they get screened and have everything go in
-speed makes a huge difference, you can go past a defender if you go wide but they know how to recover fairly well, so you don't always have a breakaway.

This sounds like a defenceman's dream. I love breaking up passing lanes, but there are so many times when the puck just seems to drift through the player. Impressions sound really good so far.