
I have a goalie in my group and it’s tough to watch him struggle to make precise adjustments due to clunky controls. If you’re an actual human who enjoys playing as a goaltender, you haven’t been forgotten.

New desperation save animations ensure no goaltender is ever out of the play, hopefully leaving slippery forwards shaking their heads in disbelief. Netminders will now square up to the puck carrier more to give themselves a better chance at making a save. The AI improvements extend to goaltenders. On the defensive side, your AI teammates will be better at slowing down incoming offensive players and will position themselves to cut off passing lanes when defending.
NHL 21 CONTROLS PLUS
They will be better positioned in the offensive zone to give you a target for a pass, which will be a big plus for anyone who enjoys the slap pass in Be a Pro. The AI has been tuned to ensure they can break out on their own and hit you in stride as you drive up ice. Thankfully, the developers focused on both, and NHL 21 should feature improved AI gameplay in several ways.

The real takeaway here is the value knowledgeable players place on realistic hockey and not flashy hockey. Veteran players who truly know hockey will gripe about the AI in just about every NHL game ever released.
NHL 21 CONTROLS UPGRADE
All three provide a logical upgrade to neutral zone play, which hopefully extends to exiting your own zone, the most likely place these moves will be effective. Players can now slip by a defender trying to squeeze them out along the boards, bank the puck off the boards and pick it up behind their opponent, or just chip the puck past a flat-footed defender and burn them in a foot race. While Babs was by no means the inspiration here, EA Vancouver has given players more tools to be effective in the neutral zone. You can almost hear Mike Babcock saying that if you’re a Leafs fan, followed by “Steady on the rudder.” Well, even though Babs turned out to be a bit of a jerk, the guy knows hockey and a lot of what he said was true. It sounds like an injection of narrative, which I’m ready for and keeping an open mind about.
NHL 21 CONTROLS HOW TO
Choose how to respond in conversations and be sure to deliver results on the ice. Balance the respect of your teammates with the love of the media and support of the front office.
NHL 21 CONTROLS PRO
This year’s Be a Pro will give players the chance to live the life of an NHL player both on and off the ice. For years it has been a place of missed opportunity and wasted potential, but that is apparently changing.

The life of an NHLerīesides improved gameplay, which is always at the top of my list when it comes to what I want in the next Chel, I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard Be a Pro was getting some love. It remains to be seen how often any of these get used in game situations, but more dekes mean opportunities for jaw-dropping moments like the ones that inspired this push towards fearless creativity. Players can even bank the puck off the back of the net like Sidney Crosby to shake a pesky defender. This is followed by Nikita Kucherov’s "no deke" deke, and Matthew Tkachuk’s between-the-legs one-timer. At the top of the new-deke pyramid is the Michigan, where players can scoop the puck up behind the net and tuck it under the bar lacrosse-style. The filthiest dangles in hockey todayĭuring my time checking out NHL 21, EA Vancouver showed us a handful of new dekes that range from filthy to functional. If online play is more your thing, EA is bringing a new mode called HUT Rush. EA is also rolling out changes to the AI, as well as the controls for the brave souls out there who dare play as a goaltender. New dekes will let highly skilled players own their competition, while Be a Pro junkies - myself included - have a completely revamped experience to look forward to. On paper, there’s something for everyone. Well, NHL 21 is coming, and EA is bringing the noise this year as they celebrate the greatness of the most fearless and creative players in video game hockey. EA was quiet about its existence long after they historically would have announced it, and we’ve come to expect delays and the canceling of anything fun in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It wasn’t that long ago that I questioned whether NHL 21 was going to be released at all.
