Exciting news NHL Gamers! The release of NHL 17 is less than a week away and some of us are of course already enjoying the 10 hour trial on the Xbox One with EA Access. One might think EA is relaxing at this stage, but we're happy to tell you that there is a major update coming "very soon" - just in time for the release.
@EASportsNHL tweeted earlier today:
Our first #NHL17 update is coming soon! Here's the list of content we are adding: https://t.co/Wy486ek2wZ
— #NHL17 (@EASPORTSNHL) September 8, 2016
The list of improvements is impressive - in fact, it's the longest one I can remember for a patch for an NHL-game. Of course it's very specific and goes into detail about certain team specific textures, but nevertheless EA Sports seems to be working hard to prove that they do in fact care about this title.
There is an overwhelming amount of improvements listed, but one of our favourites is one that our very own community has been asking for and is something that @gzell60 discussed with producer Clement Kwong during our interview at Gamescom a few weeks ago:
- Allow for a human controlled goalies to play as the extra attacker in EASHL games.
There it is! This will certainly make pulling the goalie - both in a delayed penalty situation, and in the last minute - a more valuable asset in the EASHL and the NHL Gamer ECL-leagues. It's time for the goalies to do some shooting practice too. 
Another added feature that I find really interesting and welcome is the ability to adjust the amount of help you get with your passing online:
- Added “Online Pass Assist Percentage” slider to the controls screen.
According to the description, the assist is at 100% by default, but you can turn it completely off. This is comparable with the manual passing you can find in the FIFA-series. It may finally be time to stop yelling "That's not where I aimed my pass!" - ok, maybe I did.
You can find the full and impressive list of updates below. Please let us know which improvements are the most pleasing to your eye in the comments section below!
QuoteSEPT 8 - PATCH
GAMEPLAY:
GOALIES
- Fixes to conditions around goalie interference for more accurate penalty calling.
- Allow for a human controlled goalies to play as the extra attacker in EASHL games.
- Added better ability for user goalies to resolve a save attempts on deflections.
- Add functionality for users to press the cover puck button when controlling the goalie with possession of the puck on his stick or in his glove.
- Updates to performance when playing from the new goalie Fixed Camera.
- Updates to human goalie save logic so that goalie won’t go into desperation saves unless they are already moving or really need to stretch out to make the save. This will improve cases where the goalie makes a big auto save on harmless passes and pucks going wide, as well as stop him from being left vulnerable in a sitting position if the first shot didn’t require a desperate save.
- Added new controlled goalie glove saves when the goalie is in good position.
- Addressed cases where the goalie was getting stuck between states when a user would take control and switch back to AI control.
- Fix for goalies in possession of the puck putting a stick through the boards and getting a whistle.
- Added more save coverage out of butterfly slides done with the right stick.
- Updated AI goalie logic to handle cases better when the puck is coming in at very sharp angles.
- Updates to AI goalie logic for tracking shooters as they cut across the net. They are more aware of their shooting capabilities now.
- Addressed issues with momentum when trying to stack the pads.
- Updates to human goalie save logic when shots are near their body vs. when they have to reach for them. This should help goalies who are in better position and hinder goalies who stay back in their net.
- Various fixes to transitions into/out of hug post from various positions/angles.
- Fixes where the goalie would rotate the wrong way when trying to transition onto the post.
- Increased cover puck consistency.
- Added more goalie post goal reactions.
- Added functionality when going directly from set to butterfly post lean. This removes the limitation of pressing butterfly before pressing hug post.
- Various goalie animation fixes.
- Increased responsiveness in precision movement, especially when moving laterally.
DEFENSE
- Updates to incidental stick/puck contact with the goalie for more accuracy.
- Various improvements to incidental stick-on-stick contact for more accuracy.
- Fixed issues where incidental stick contact wasn’t affecting the puck carrier during some puck pickups/pass receptions.
- Extended Stick Lift will now modify into board play if the puck carrier goes into board play.
- Tweaked ease of alignment for getting into net battles and extended stick lifts.
- Fix various stick to hand blending issues in animations.
- Ability to perform extended stick lifts all over the ice. They were originally limited to the net battle areas of the ice.
- Updates to make the transition between stick lift and extended stick lifts more responsive to what the player intends.
- Updates to how extended stick lifts impact the ability to receive a puck or keep possession of a puck.
- Updated push check animations to better respect where the defender's stick was before he initiated the push.
- Updated physical preparedness calculation when the player being hit was in the middle of a pass. They were previously more prepared than they should be.
- Better defensive coverage on the strong side winger on the breakout.
- Improved AI defense when they are on the PP with the man advantage. Use the extra man to minimize the PK team’s effort with the puck.
- Addressed issues where AI defenders would over commit skating forwards out of their zone which would hurt their ability to get a good gap on the rush.
- AI players won’t auto line change when team has possession in the offensive zone unless they are extremely tired.
- Updated cases for a defender to drop the puck if they are going to take the puck into their own net. If a defender carries the puck into their own net, it can now be counted as a goal.
PUCK PICKUPS & RECEPTIONS
- Improved pickups in cases where the puck is behind a player.
- Added coverage to skate pickups to help with pucks in the feet or directly behind a player.
- Animation updates to pickups where sticks weren’t flush to the ice.
- Updates to conditions and coverage for turning pickups.
- Updates to pass assist to not lead players as much if it is going to lead to an offside.
- Updates to how pickups will attempt to resolve if the puck changes trajectory.
MISC
- Updated how holding penalties work to get more accurate penalty calls.
- Ability to manually set Min/Max Pass Speed in Gameplay Sliders.
PRESENTATION:
CROWD
- Improved crowd reaction and behavior when a major milestone has been achieved (ie. 500 goals).
- Updates to European fan signs.
- Improved fan distribution, signage and team clothing assignment in World Cup of Hockey mode.
- General crowd behavior and reaction improvements.
CAMERAS
- Added new introduction cameras for several stadiums.
- Improved camera tracking when the puck is in the corner.
ARTWORK:
ENVIRONMENT
- Addressed seat color issues during t-shirt promo nights in Arizona.
- Edited promo puck and promo bobblehead placement in several stadiums to avoid stanchions.
- Improved New Jersey Devil mascot animations around the boards and glass.
- Improvements to Carolina PNC Arena lighting in corners of ice surface.
- Authenticity update for goal light in Scottrade Center.
- Authenticity update for the scoreboard in Scottrade Center. Smoke now emits when a home goal is scored during playoffs.
- Lighting improvements for stanchions in several creation zone environments.
- Improved arena shadows for realism in several creation zone environments.
- Added circles at top of scoreboard for the Buffalo Sabres First Niagara Center scoreboard.
- Banners in New Jersey were updated for authenticity.
- All ECHL stadiums will now have blue goal posts.
PLAYERS
- Improvements to hair for several star players.
- Added new goalie mask art for several teams including Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Detroit, Edmonton, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, *. Louis, Tampa Bay, Washington.
- Quality improvements of some of the generic hair styles in creation zone.
EQUIPMENT
- Gold stick award art tuning.
- Authenticity improvement to CCM Extreme Flex Pro line of equipment.
- Two Bauer skate blades updated for authenticity.
- Krefeld Pinguine logo updated for authenticity.
- Authenticity update for Bauer Supreme Totalone NXG blocker, pads, and trapper.
- Authenticity update for Brian’s G-Netik blocker, and pads.
- Authenticity update for CCM Extreme Flex 2 blocker.
- Authenticity update for KOHO Revolution 587 trapper.
- Authenticity update for Vaughn V4 7600 Blocker.
- Added CCM Extreme Flex III Pro Goalie Pad set to Creation Zone.
UNIFORMS
- Added Bakersfield Condors Alternate uniform.
- Added Chicago Wolves Alternate uniform.
- Added Cleveland Monsters Home, Away and Third uniforms.
- Added Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Home and Away uniforms.
- Added Hartford Wolf Pack Home, Away and Third uniforms.
- Added Hershey Bears Alternate uniform.
- Added Stockton Heat Alternate Uniform.
- Added German National Team Home, Away and Third uniforms.
- Updated font type for Acadie-Bathurst Titan Home and Away uniforms.
- Updated Number Font color for Orlando Solar Bears Home Uniform.
- Updated Pant color on Czech Republic Home and Away Uniforms.
AUDIO:
COMMENTARY
- Lake Erie Monsters sample changed to Cleveland Monsters.
- Added speech for 2000, and 3000 point milestones.
- Many improvements to commentator awareness/accuracy.
SFX
- Goal horn volume increased.
- Update to SFX for fight collisions.
- Update to SFX for when a puck goes off a goalie helmet.
CROWD
- Improved crowd excitement after a goal is scored.
- Added crowd countdown to final buzzer in important games.
- Improved crowd reaction and excitement when player achieves personal milestone.
MUSIC
- NBC and Wednesday Night Rivalry themes tuned for improved timing. Music now ends when screen fades to black
ONLINE:
GENERAL
- Added a new Camera angle called “Zone” which was formally known as Custom 3 (available everywhere).
ALL ONLINE MODES
- Added “Online Pass Assist Percentage” slider to the controls screen.
- Defaults to 100% which is the online default, from there the user can move the slider down to have less Pass Assist
USABILITY:
- Controller images added to controller settings screens
EASHL:
- Room Leader “Captain icon” to remain persistent from Dressing Room to Side Select.
- Fixed several issues with the “Set for All Positions” option in Edit Pro.
- Fixed the chat box in the Drop-in and Clubs Dressing Room when specific special characters were being entered.
- Addressed various camera issues in the small and large community rinks.
- Added Stock Team Branding in EASHL Edit Team.
- Allows a club to use a Stock logo from our title.
- Allows a club to use Stock Uniforms from our title as their Home, Away, or Alternate uniforms.
- Stock Team Branding does not allow for recoloring of logos or uniforms.
- Stock Team Branding has been added to club progression and assigned to the following requirements:
- Ability to use Stock Team Branding – Complete 35 games
- Ability to use Stock Vintage Uniforms – Reach Club Prestige 1 – Level 13
- Ability to use Stock Alternate Uniforms – Reach Club Prestige 1 – Level 30
- Added High Tilted Visor as player progression unlock.
- Unlocked at Player Prestige 1 – Level 7
- Added Player Summary screen at the end of game.
- Shows the profile names of the users in game and their stats.
- Used to compare player stats and for Club GMs to scout players.
- GMs can invite players to join their club from this screen.
- Added Ability to enter Edit Player or Edit Team from the Drop-in and Clubs Dressing Rooms
- Allows players to customize their player or club between games without having to leave their group experience.
- For Drop-in it allows the players to remain in their persistent Dressing Room lobby.
- Add Rich Presence to the Drop-in Dressing Room.
- Allows players to see that their teammates from the previous game are still in the post-game flow.
- Allows players to see that their teammates are customizing their player (also available in Club Dressing Room).
- Human goalies can now pull themselves and become a human controlled extra attacker from the bench.
- Added milestones to EASHL - Commentary team will announce goal and point milestones in EASHL for the following:
- 50 Goals
- 100 Goals
- 200 Goals
- 300 Goals
- 400 Goals
- 499 Goals
- 500 Goals
- 999 Goals
- 1000 Goals
- 2000 Goals
- 3000 Goals
- 200 Points
- 300 Points
- 400 Points
- 500 Points
- 1000 Points
- 2000 Points
- 3000 Points
BE A PRO:
- BAP player can now get injured for multiple games.
- 2X EXP game situation now shown on BAP shift timer.
- BAP coaching feedback post game screen added with 5 game summary graph.
- 3rd and 4th liners now get more ice time when playing quick BAP games.
- Added message on BAP coaching feedback overlay to remind users more feedback available in pause menu.
- Tuned some 2X EXP game situations.
- Improved shift timer line change animation timing to match hint/on-ice visual trainer.
- Improved logic around when hints/suggested focus are skipped on expert mode.
- Improved camera in BAP. Updates when starting a shift jumping off the bench, when skating to the bench to line change, updates for tracking when shots are taken, and various other focus updates.
COACHING FEEDBACK:
- Tuned logic for when to show certain feedback hints.
- Saucers passes are no longer considered weak passes.
- Goalies no longer penalized for careless wandering when going to the bench for delayed penalty/extra attacker.
FRANCHISE MODE:
- Promotion Nights can now be scheduled throughout the regular season
- Added 8 new owner goals:
- Improve Top 6 Forward (contender teams only)
- Improve Top 4 Defenseman (contender teams only)
- Improve Starting Goalies (contender teams only)
- These will only occur if the team is currently weak in a given position.
- Get “X” sellouts in a season (for all teams)
- Win “X” games in a season (for all teams)
- Win “X” Home games in a season (for all teams)
- Win “X” Road games in a Season (for all teams)
- Improve Team Chemistry by “X” (for all teams)
- Added functionality where a user receives additional funding for completing owner goals.
- Added functionality for team performance based owner goals to change based on the team’s current status during the season.
- Added functionality where owner goals for stadium upgrades are processed immediately instead of at the end of construction.
- Added team status and team record to the trade screen.
- Added playoff tree view to the stats central tile.
- Added retirement screen to view the league's retired players.
- Improved upgrading:
- Replaced current upgrading/maintain flow with a new overlay to upgrade and maintain an object.
- Added an indicator for what object pertains to an owner goal.
- More information is surfaced when an item is not actionable.
- Quick link to the operation budget screen to quickly allocate funds.
- Added Owner Goals section in the Franchise Overview Screen
- Added 7 new categories for the team information section in the Franchise Overview Screen:
- Number of Sellouts this season
- Days until Trade Deadline
- Days until Rookie Draft
- Days until Free Agency
- Days until Re-sign phase
- Number of injured players
- Current Funds Available
- Added 7 new Relocation options:
- Atlanta, GA
- Birmingham, AL
- Markham, ON
- Regina, SK
- San Francisco, CA
- Miami, FL
- Sacramento, CA
- Added reminder notification to alert the user to set a marketing budget once the season ticket drive has started.
HUT:
- Improved Set completion flow
- Collection and Auction House search filters will automatically lock to the appropriate item types when attempting to add items to a set.
- New animation added when all of the items to complete a set have been added by the user.
- Improved the set completion confirmation message screen.
- Added a quick link to the Unopened Packs screen from the 2nd and 3rd level of the Sets screen when there are available packs for the player to open.
- Users can now easily access their reward packs after completing sets using this new functionality.
- Added a scroll bar to the Synergy Glossary screen to let players know that there are more Synergy styles available.
Source: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/10356843.page?sf48667017=1#35169115
On behalf of the NHL Gamer staff,
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