NHL 11 General Discussion

[Finny61]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Hmmmm,

This game is slowly growing on me. Just swallowed my pride and put it on Pro/Normal. All-star is freaking insane. Starting to learn the AI workarounds.

I have spent 4 hours experimenting with slider combinations, I have found the best results are Pro and then using the scaling up cpu difficulty, I find all star to get me nothing but 0-0 games or at the most a cheesy (and I mean cheesy!) goal by the CPU.

[Russic]

Brutal, a flames jersey just went for 250 pucks and I missed it.

[bubbsy]

man, my online HUT team just sucks.

Is there more to "chemistry" than i am assuming here?! i hit roughly 5 posts a game, but i only ensure fwd's are playing their position, not that they are from the same league/team....

i was really psyched about the game, but find it quite disappointing so far. I wasn't a big hitter when i play (online vs and offline) but wihtout that i just can't free the puck up defensively and end up getting 4-5 penalties a game for trying to poke check and stick lift.

[Russic]

Not. Impressed.

Well kids after 22 games I finally earned enough for a jumbo pack. Interested in the bounty?

Best player: some jagoff rated a 75 from the extraliga league.
# of coaches in the pack: 3!!!!

The actual highlights include mike Morrison for a goalie ... at least he's somebody. Also, picked up a retro Jersey home (blue one) and a buffaslug away jersey. Better than the euro-trash I'm wearing now.

Not quite the over-haul to my top line I was expecting. Ah well ... Glad I didn't pay for it!

[Esoteric]

So what are your HUTs looking like?

I bought two packs, and have had amazing luck with trading. I've bought a lot of cards on there for low amounts and flipped them for high amounts. For instance, I found someone selling a Jeff Carter card for 2,500, and then flipped it for over 8,000.

I'll have to move some players soon; my third line is pretty expensive, and I know I won't be able to renew all of my contracts in a few games. I think Gio is on the way out, he wants 1620

Here's mine at the moment;

Offense 90
Defence 87
Goaltending 75
Salary Cap 24,850/25,000
Team Potential 85
Team Chemistry 82

LW C RW Chemistry
Wolski - PHX (86) | Pavelski - SJS (88) | Doan - PHX (85) | 76
Backlund - ABB (87) | Moller - MNC (83) | Ryder - BOS (85) | 55
Bradford - LEM(76) | Talbot - LEM (77) | Wilsie - LEM (77) | 96
Lovecchio - PRO (73) | Sobotka - PRO (79) | Marchand - PRO (77) | 99

LD RD Chemistry
Regehr - CGY (90) | Giordano - CGY (87) | 98
Salvador - NJD (81) | Hannan - 84 (COL) | 55
Rathje- PHI (87) | Syvret - PHI (74) | 98

G
Broduer - NJD (90)
Some random with a really cheap contract

EDIT: Had to drop Pronger to renew contracts. Should be set for at least another twenty games now though with everyone signed.

I'm really impressed and surprised with the depth to this mode.

[3 Justin 3]

Well I thought team play was hard for NHL 10, but NHL 11 is just brutal. My average is like C, and my last 4 games have been D+. Brutal. I can't for the life of me get into the B+ or better range. What the hell do you have to do for a A+, get like 20 take-aways and score 5 goals? Scheisse.

[Diemenz]

Only call for passes when your actually open and make sure to play your position.

Additionally giveaways dont help at all its better to dump it and take a hit then take a hit and lose it.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

man, my online HUT team just sucks.

Is there more to "chemistry" than i am assuming here?! i hit roughly 5 posts a game, but i only ensure fwd's are playing their position, not that they are from the same league/team....

i was really psyched about the game, but find it quite disappointing so far. I wasn't a big hitter when i play (online vs and offline) but wihtout that i just can't free the puck up defensively and end up getting 4-5 penalties a game for trying to poke check and stick lift.

You don't have to be a big hitter. All you need to do is bump a guy and a lot of the time that will free up the puck, and if not it does slow the guy up a bit so another player can get over and help you out.

I find a lot of the time this is better than going for a bad poke or stick lift and taking a penalty.

[sclitheroe]

On the topic of HUTterite chemistry. Is chemistry better when the lines are a bright colour, or the darker colour? Maybe its red or green, I don’t know, but nobody is explaining it for colour blind folks like myself. I can’t tell right now if I’m making my lines better or worse for chemistry, all I can do is make them all dark shades or bright shades of what might be red or green.

So which is it?

Thanks!

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

On the topic of HUTterite chemistry. Is chemistry better when the lines are a bright colour, or the darker colour? Maybe its red or green, I don’t know, but nobody is explaining it for colour blind folks like myself. I can’t tell right now if I’m making my lines better or worse for chemistry, all I can do is make them all dark shades or bright shades of what might be red or green.

So which is it?

Thanks!

Red=bad=dark
Green=good=bright

On the edit lineup screen on the side it will also give you your line chemistry in a number, as well as team chemistry so you can see it go up and down depending on your line changes.

[Russic]

On the topic of chemistry, does it really make that big of a difference?

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Russic

On the topic of chemistry, does it really make that big of a difference?

Well, i can't say if i just improved but when i centered Peverly with Cammy and pominville they sucked.

switched peverly to hecht (lower rating) and lit it up! (alot more chemistry)

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Well I thought team play was hard for NHL 10, but NHL 11 is just brutal. My average is like C, and my last 4 games have been D+. Brutal. I can't for the life of me get into the B+ or better range. What the hell do you have to do for a A+, get like 20 take-aways and score 5 goals? Scheisse.

You have to be a good teammate, doing things that good teammates do.

Gotta sacrifice those personal stats for the greater good.

[ChuckieNZ]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

You have to be a good teammate, doing things that good teammates do.

Gotta sacrifice those personal stats for the greater good.

Being a good teammate = personal stats. Well, at least +/-, lol.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Well I thought team play was hard for NHL 10, but NHL 11 is just brutal. My average is like C, and my last 4 games have been D+. Brutal. I can't for the life of me get into the B+ or better range. What the hell do you have to do for a A+, get like 20 take-aways and score 5 goals? Scheisse.

1) Don't spend too much time on the ice.
2) Don't call for intercepted passes/blocked shots
3) Give the puck away (This one sucks for me, as I always play a power forward and I get a lot of garbage goals, so a few shifts of banging the puck into the goalie destroys my Team Play stat)
4) Throw the body down to block every once in a while. Team play goes up a partial grade (IE B to B+) immediately after if you block anything.

[ChuckieNZ]

You guys are missing some key ones.

- Neutral zone and breakout turnovers are killers for team play. If you are having trouble gaining the zone, don't try and try again. Dump the puck with forward momentum. + Team Play.

- Defensive zone turnovers are killers for team play. If you are stuck and have no options, dump it out of your zone. + Team Play

And did I mention dump?

[dobbles]

wow, i actually got something useful from the news panel of the load screen. it has a message up about ea servers restarting. usually its totally useless like 'play the new hut mode' or something stupid, but it was actually helpful this time.

btw, the server restart is apparently at 230est.

[ChuckieNZ]

restarting as in reboot? Not reset I hope?

[dobbles]

"ea servers will be restarted at this time to resolve the face-off loop issue. thank you for your patience."

[Jayems]

Man, this game is going to take some getting used to. First off, opposing players can virtually waltz in to the zone. If you poke check, you get a tripping penalty 80% of the time. If you go for a hit, you'll bounce off most of the time. If you wind up with the hustle, you get a charging penalty. You sit back, they go in and get a good chance.

As with all new editions, I think this one is going to be more about getting rid of NHL10 habits and learning the new way of the game.