Hey NHLGamers, 

A new patch is scheduled to be released today at 11am CET (7th Dec.). Generally speaking it appears as though this patch is certainly not as 'extensive' as the previous patch, nevertheless there are still some gameplay changes of note. For instance, they claim to have fixed an issue where one's player would attempt a forehand shot when their stick was held out on backhand. In addition to this, albeit not quite 'gameplay' related, EA also claims to have fixed the issue with challenge lobbies where the side selection option was not working correctly in EASHL, something which at the very least should save a few minutes of time on each and every game day going forward. 

The main bulk of this patch however comes in the form of fixing miscellaneous bugs, such as the mascot in EASHL not showing up, as well as adding additional jerseys to the game. 

The full changelog is as follows: 

 

Quote

NHL 19 PATCH 1.4.0 - EXPECTED AVAILABILITY: DECEMBER 7th @ 2 AM PDT

 

Hockey Ultimate Team

• Added more Autofill options to Edit Lines
  • In addition to OVR Rating, you can now Autofill in Edit Lines by:
  • Synergy
  • Card Face Stat
  • Player Attribute
• You can also select the following options:
  • Autofill full team or just empty positions
  • Include or Exclude Loans
  • Include or Exclude injured players or players with expired contracts
• Added Right/Left Handedness search filter to Auction House
• Collection now displays completion stats for each team
• Improved navigation in Auction House when scrolling through pages
• Fixed an issue where the score clock did not update after a goal until the following faceoff
• Fixed an issue where the in-game Card overlay would sometimes cover the Edit Lines overlay after a goal
   

World of CHEL

• Fixed an issue where mascots were not showing up in gameplay when assigned to an EASHL club
• Fixed an issue where users who weren’t in a club were receiving a “Failed to retrieve data” error message when attempting to view a roster of another club
• Fixed an issue where setting the Home/Away preference in Private Matchmaking games wasn’t working correctly
• New Content in World of CHEL
  • Added a new chapter to Pro-Am which has you play alongside the JVG Finnish rappers
  • Added the JVG jerseys as part of the rewards for completing the new Pro-Am chapter
  • Added the Los Angeles Kings Alternate Jersey
  • Added the New York Islanders Alternate Jersey
  • Added the Pittsburgh Penguins Alternate Jersey
  • Added Boston Bruins Winter Classic
  • Added Chicago Blackhawks Winter Classic
  • Added the Wheeling Nailers Alternate Jersey
  • Added the Chicoutimi Sagueneens Alternate Jersey
  • Added the Lethbridge Hurricanes Alternate Jersey
  • Added the Prince George Cougars Alternate Jersey
  • Added the Windsor Spitfires Alternate Jersey
     

GAMEPLAY

• General
  • Fixed an issue where weak backhand flip shots driving in on your backhand had too much power
  • Fixed an issue where logic was causing the goalie to sometimes lose control of the puck near the goal line
  • Fixed an issue where when sometimes attempting a backhand shot the stick would flip to forehand

 

GAME MODES/PRESENTATION

• Franchise Mode:
  • Added Scouting budget remaining when offering a scout a contract.
  • CPU teams are more willing to accept trades with rental players with 1 year left on their contracts prior to the trade deadline.
  • Increased the # of players that are interested in a Contract Extension during the season.
• Tournaments
  • Added 2018 Spengler Cup tournament to the game.
• Presentation
  • Added the Washington’s Capitals Stanley Cup Championship Banner to Capital One Arena
• Uniforms
  • The following uniforms have been added to NHL 19
    • NHL
      • Added Los Angeles Kings Alternate
      • Added New York Islanders Alternate
      • Added Pittsburgh Penguins Alternate
      • Added Boston Bruins Winter Classic
      • Added Chicago Blackhawks Winter Classic
    • ECHL
      • Cincinnati Cyclones Alternate
      • Indy Fuel Away
      • Kansas City Mavericks Home and Away
      • Wheeling Nailers Alternate
    • QMJHL
      • Chicoutimi Sagueneens Alternate
      • Halifax Mooseheads Alternate
      • Moncton Wildcats Home and Away
      • Val D’Or Foreurs Home and Away
    • OHL
      • London Knights Away
      • Windsor Spitfires Alternate
    • WHL
      • Kootenay Ice Alternate
      • Lethbridge Hurricanes Alternate
      • Moose Jaw Warriors Alternate
      • Prince George Cougars Alternate
    • SHL
      • Farjestad BK Home and Away
      • Malmo Redhawks Alternate
      • Mora IK Home and Away
      • Rogle BK Home and Away
    • HockeyAllsvenskan
      • IF Bjorkloven Home and Away
      • Karlkrona HK Home and Away
      • Vasterviks IK Home and Away

Source: EA Forums

What do you think about the new patch? Let us know in the comments!

Hey NHLGamers, 

A new patch (1.3.0) is has been released for NHL 19. As this is a patch and not a tuner there are a significant amount of changes to the game. 

Main additions / changes to EASHL are the reinclusion of 'Club captaincy', the removal of the post-game timer restarting once you already stopped it by going into the instant replay, as well as a bunch of other fixes aiming to stop the mode randomly breaking for no reason. In addition to this they are still investigating the dressing room errors that are plaguing some users. 

On top of this they have tried to improve how your player picks up a stick from the bench so hopefully they'll no longer cosplay as Helen Keller. Furthermore, they've tried to make the transitions more consistent when moving between different stances for human goalies. 

The full changelog is as follows:

Quote

NHL 19 PATCH 1.3.0 - EXPECTED AVAILABILITY: OCTOBER 26th @ 2 AM PDT

PLEASE NOTE: The online servers for NHL 19 will be down for approximately 30 minutes at 2 AM PDT as some work is done alongside the patch.


Hockey Ultimate Team

• Added the ability to customize your HUT team in the following ways
  • Captain and Assistant Captain
  • Jersey Numbers
  • Goalie Masks
  • These items will be available in Customization packs and can be applied via the “Apply Consumable” option in your Edit Lines flow
• Added the ability for user to search the Auction House by Overall rating
• Fixed various issues in Auction House
• When a goal is scored, users will see the player items of the goal scorer and who received assists during the goal celebration
• When viewing a game’s box score, you will now have the ability to see the player items when scrolling through any user-controlled team
• Fixed an issue where the Star Rating was being shown instead of the Overall in the “Change Active Lineup” screen

World of CHEL

• Added Club Captaincy back to EASHL
• Fixed a rare crash where a user would sometimes crash loading into a Ones game
• Fixed an issue where “The Lot” image was appearing in the post-game of a Ones game, even if the user was in a different tier
• Fixed an issue where helmet colors were swapped in some Pro-Am games
• Fixed an issue where 2 Man Celebrations were not working as intended in Pro-Am games
• Fixed an issue where an overlap would occur in the Player Class description if a user was quick changing Traits and then changed their Player Class
• Fixed an issue where a user would become stuck in matchmaking until the timer ran out if another player happened to drop during when the users were matched up and selected Ready
• Added background art to the Ones Daily Rewards screen
• Fixed an issue where the Ready button does not unlock once a game finishes if a user enters a Clubs dressing room before the current game is completed
• Fixed a rare crash when earning a PSN Trophy/Xbox Achievement while playing Ones
• Fixed an issue where the colors on the scoreboard were different from the colors in the score overlay
• Fixed a rare desync that would occur when users quit from a Ones or EASHL game and then joined another game
• Fixed an issue where exiting the Instant Replay from the post-game pause menu will restart the roll over timer when it shouldn’t be present when exiting out of that flow
• Added a “Next Game” option in the post-game so users can select that option and bypass the timer to return to the dressing room
• Fixed an issue where headwear was not being displayed on female heads outside of Edit Player
• Fixed an issue where the user would be booted back to the main menu after opening their very first WoC bag
• Fixed an issue where the user would become stuck if they quickly cancelled matchmaking then entered the matchmaking settings screen
• Fixed cases where players would come out of the player bench on penalties instead of the penalty box
• Improvements to AI behavior when a player disconnects in Ones

New Content in World of CHEL

• Colorado Avalanche Alternate Jersey
• Columbus Blue Jackets Alternate Jersey
• Edmonton Oilers Alternate
• Winnipeg Jets Alternate
• Calgary Flames Alternate
• Washington Capitals Alternate
• San Jose Sharks Alternate

GAMEPLAY

• General
  • Various improvements made for grabbing sticks from the bench
  • Fixed cases where a shot animation was resulting in bobbled shots
  • Fixes to faceoff alignment in defensive zone
  • Various improvements for Defensive AI behaviour off faceoffs
  • Updates to AI logic for when to use defensive skill stick
  • Fixed various crashes
• Skating
  • Improvements made to Vision Control when pivoting
  • Fixed an issue where energy was not regaining when in a glide while back skating
• Poke Checking
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to poke check opponents through the net
  • Made improvements to collision detection where sometimes a stick was still able to cause incidental contact with the puck carriers stick or the puck when passing through player geo first.
• Goalies
  • Improved consistency when transitioning from VH into hug post and from hug post into VH
  • Improved consistency when transitioning from paddle down to the set pose
  • Fixes to AI goaltender puck tracking on Between-the-Legs shots
  • Improved AI goaltender puck tracking on One-Handed Dekes
  • Fixes to AI goaltender puck tracking on Backhand Toe Drag Flip Shots
  • Improved AI goaltender tracking when back skating
  • Consistency improvements to hug post transitions from set pose at extreme angles
  • Various fixes to goalie save coverage when transitioning off the post
  • Improvements to save logic when the AI goaltender is in VH
  • Various fixes for AI Goalie shot anticipation
  • Fixed a case where goalies could get stuck in butterfly
  • Added more tuning ability for how goalies handle secondary threats that could be rebound threats
  • Specializations
    • Various fixes to specializations and traits

GAME MODES/PRESENTATION

• Franchise Mode:
  • Fixed an issues where junior created players imported into Franchise Mode always had UFA expiring contract status. They will now correctly follow NHL CBA rules.
  • Fixed an issue where some Owner mode related screens showed grey text on a grey background
  • Fixed an issue where the Jersey number screen was white when entering from a popup
  • Fixed an issue where the game would crash if the user switched to AHL during the NHL playoffs while it was still the AHL regular season
  • General UI/UX fixes
  • Be a Pro:
  • Added a popup informing the user that they became the team captain
  • Changed the colour of the starting goalie icon on the Play Next Game tile to better show if the user is the starting goalie that game
• Online Versus
  • Fixed an issue where users could become stuck while backing out of the Audio/Visual Settings screen as the pause timer expires
• Global
  • In the pause menu, the Power Player format wasn’t correct. It should have been in the x/x format rather just powerplay opportunities

PRESENTATION

• Various improvements to multiplayer celebrations
• Fixed a case where the score clock timing was incorrect off the opening draw in 2nd and 3rd periods
• Fix an issue where the goal light was not rendering properly in some stadiums
• Various camera fixes

Uniforms
The following uniforms have been added to NHL 19

• NHL
  • Added Calgary Flames Alternate
  • Added Colorado Avalanche Alternate
  • Added Columbus Blue Jackets Alternate
  • Added San Jose Sharks Alternate
  • Added Washington Capitals Alternate
  • Added Winnipeg Jets Alternate
  • Added Edmonton Oilers Alternate
• AHL
  • Colorado Eagles Home and Away
• CHL
  • Lethbridge Hurricanes Home and Away
  • Oshawa Generals Home and Away
  • Shawinigan Cataractes Home and Away
• ECHL
  • Atlanta Gladiators Home and Away
  • Adirondack Thunder Home and Away
  • Rapid City Rush Home and Away
• Liiga
  • KalPa Home and Away
  • KooKoo Kouvola Home and Away
• DEL
  • All Teams Home and Away
• National League
  • All Teams Home and Away

Center Ice Changes
Updated the following Center Ice layouts

• Anaheim Ducks
• Carolina Hurricanes
• Chicago Blackhawks
• Dallas Stars
• Detroit Red Wings
• Minnesota Wild
• Montreal Canadiens
• St. Louis Blues
• Vegas Golden Knights

We are still investigating into what is causing Dressing Room errors for EASHL. We are still working on it and are trying find out what the exact cause is in order to solve it. We appreciate your patience as we work to address the issue

Source: EA Forums

Additionally, there was a tuner released recently (24th Oct) which is shown below. 

Quote

NHL 19 Tuner 1.03 - Expected Availability October 24th @ 2am PST

This tuner is aimed to help address two major areas of feedback we have seen from the community: the prevelance of Skillzone defense and incidental contact/bumps being too strong.
 

• Tuned down AI aggression towards the puck carrier and loose pucks in Online VS and HUT
• Further muting of AI defensive actions in Online VS and HUT. There will still be some rare cases where the AI will perform a defensive action if the puck comes loose as we want them to defend passes and their logic works similar on pass receptions and loose puck acquisition.
• Improved cases where an AI goalie was reacting too quickly to passes even when not reading a pass.
• Improved cases where an AI goalie was able to recover too easily against their momentum.
• Improved cases where goaltender passes were getting overly assisted
• Improved some cases where players would sometimes lose the puck from incidental contacts that weren’t big enough to trigger a stumble. This was done by increasing the distance the puck needs to be from the stick for incidental puck loss. Collisions of stumbles or greater remained unchanged and will follow the same physics behavior as before.
• Improved a player’s ability to withstand push checks at lower relative speeds, especially from behind. Results will still vary based on the players involved and the more detailed context of the collision.

We’re continuing to monitor some other major areas of feedback from the community, however at this time we have not implemented any changes. These include skating and poke checking.

Source: EA Forums

What do you think about the new patch & tuner? Is the VS/HUT AI at a good level now? What is your main gripe with NHL 19? Let us know in the comments.

Hey NHLGamers,

A new NHL 19 Tuner carrying the version number 1.0.2 has been released. Before we jump into the tuner notes, let's have a little talk. If you are active on social media and the NHL community, you know that there has been a lot of harsh feedback about NHL 19 and there's been claims such as:

• They ruined the game - it was already perfect during the beta!
• The patch/tuner turned the game back into NHL 18!
• The skating was perfect, but now I feel like a tank again!

Let's take a moment to think about this. Could some of this backlash also be a community overreaction? I mean, we're having the same discussions annually. People that are familiar with marketing surely know that word of mouth works in a snowball effect, maybe that's a part of what's happening here? Understandably everyone can't like the changes but have they actually been as dramatic as the community has made it seem?

I myself usually love playing the game in the first weeks it comes out - sure, it feels the same in many ways, but it's still fresh and people don't know how to play exactly and how to score in the most efficient ways. Fast-forward a few weeks: The game isn't as easy as it was on the week of the release. Your competition has also got in some game hours and has learned a trick or two. The bliss of having a new, amazing product has faded and you've become familiarized with the grind it takes to stay at a competitive level in the game.

So a new patch or tuner comes out and someone tells you "this and that is completely ruined". You start focusing on it more. You notice new things that perhaps aren't actually new things, just things you didn't pay attention to before. But surely it's real - everybody is talking about it!

Do I think the game is perfect? Far from it. I have spent countless hours giving constructive feedback about it this year alone. But constructive is the key word. If you want something to be actually improved, you can't expect it to improve if your feedback is at the level of "This is trash! Fix your game!". I know there are many members in our community that actually put in the time and effort to provide valuable and well constructed feedback. I believe we could all benefit from taking a look at our approach to feedback, whether it is at a Burger King or a web forum.

Honestly, I have been too busy with working on the website and broadcasts to get in as many game hours as I would like to and because of that, I know that many of you are better qualified to actually discuss the pokechecks, stick lifts and skating. So please do discuss it in the comments, using words, videos and graphs or whatever you need. Let's just drill into the specifics of the issues and look at why things work or don't work the way we expect them to. It's also worth keeping in mind that if you release a patch that aims to fix everything in one go, it's could to be really hard to say what change caused an unexpected change to the game balance.

NHL 19 Tuner 1.0.2 - Change log

Quote

October 11th @ 2am PDT - Tuner 1.02

• Improved consistency of penalty calls from errant stick lifts
• Increased deking success rate in keeping the puck. Player attributes still provide a big range in ability but all players will be improved from where they were with the change.
• Improved consistency of blocking incidental stick contact if the stick collided with body geo first
• Improved pickup solve consistency
• Players will no longer drop their sticks
• Improvements to AI goalie decision making when playing the puck out of their net. Mostly impacts goalies that were too aggressive
• AI goalie puck tracking improvements
• Reduced the chance ai skaters will put the puck over the glass for delay of game penalties in World of Chel

Source: EA Forums

Ok, so on to the important stuff of what's new in this tuner. The tuner is now available, but I haven't had a chance to test it out yet. There are several parts that at least on paper sound like they issue many of my main complaints so far:

• You should not be able to smash that stick lift irresponsibly without getting called for penatlies. 
• It should be easier to pull off some dekes with any player type now (I've felt it's too hard to get successful dekes even when the player isn't pressured) 
• It's felt like it's been a bit too easy to knock the puck lose just by the opponent trying to hit you, but in the process their stick has touched the puck, often through your body. This should be improved now.
• I've often been confused with whether or not I've been able to pick up the puck or not and I don't know if I should leave the situation or not. Hopefully now the outcome will be more obvious and make reading the game a bit easier.
• Earlier broken sticks were removed (from competitive play) and now the dropped sticks. While I liked it as a thing that happens in real hockey, let's face it - it was very random and thus unfair.
• I've actually been quite happy with the goalies this year, but I imagine these tweaks are to hinder some glitch.

What do you think about the new tuner? What is your main gripe with NHL 19? Let us know in the comments.

Hey NHLGamers,

The day is finally here when we can start challenging teams in World of Chel! Yes, that's right - the NHL 19 patch with version number 1.2.0 is now available for download at the size of 1617,5MB and brings with it a great amount of fixes for different game modes. One of the most anticipated features is of course the ability to host private sessions in EASHL, but there are also a whole lot of bug fixes and improved features, such as being able to being able to apply contracts and healing cards to all of the necessary players at once.

To read more about the updated dressing room and how it works, you can check out our previous article about it.

Check out the full list of changes and let us know what you think in the comments!

Below you'll find the full list of patch notes for 1.2.0

Hockey Ultimate Team

• Added a new Autofill mechanic to Sets to improve the Set redemption flow
  • You can now Autofill your sets with one of two options:
    • Autofill
    • Autofill Duplicates only
  • You will be able to confirm the completion, should you want to swap any items out.
• Added Quick Apply options for Contract and Healing items
  • You will now be able to quickly apply contracts and healing items to your players through the “Apply Consumables” option in the Edit Lineup flow.
• Added OT lines as editable lines
• Updated Auction House and Collection Search Flow
  • You will now be able to set and change your search filters in the same screen that you view the items in the Auction House or Collection Search
• Added Position labels to edit lines to indicate what position a card is playing in.

World of CHEL

• Added Private Matchmaking PIN to Drop-in and Club Dressing Rooms (feature to replace old Club Challenge system) MORE INFO
• Online Player Indicators setting will now showing 6 unique colors for the opposing team rather than showing the same colors as your own team to prevent confusion
• Fixed an issue in Drop-in where when a user sometimes joined an existing session from matchmaking it would prevent all users from entering gameplay
• Fixed an issue where the game can crash for some users who remain in a 6v6 Clubs game once the game has fallen below the minimum number of users
• Fixed an intro cut scene issue in Pro-Am where the crowd would pop into the scene
• Fixed an issue where unlockable preset goal horns weren’t triggering in Pro-Am games
• Fixed an issue where unlockable goal horns do not play when scoring as the away team in 3v3 Drop-in
• Fixed an issue where backing out of the matchup screen to the Dressing Room and then opening the matchmaking settings screen would cause a UI lockup
• Fixed an issue where the goal songs weren’t being randomized in Drop-in 6v6 or 3v3
• Fixed an issue where the user may hang after playing a Drop-in 3v3 game and return to the Dressing Room
• Fixed an issue where the EASHL logo would remain on screen during the intro NIS if multiple consoles selected to skip the intro cut scene
• Fixed the issues that caused controls and visual settings to be reset after playing Pro-Am games
• Fixed an issue where users who are invited to play in a club game will wear that club’s uniform in the Dressing Room screens
• Fixed an issue where all traits are listed under Offense when first entering the Edit Loadout screen from the Dressing Room
• Fixed an issue where traits filters stop working after the user quickly switches between tabs
• Fixed an issue where hair colors were not updating correctly on the 3D character in Edit/Customize Pro
• Fixed an issue where Clubs goalie equipment/appearance does not carry into gameplay for CPU goalies
• Fixed an issue where the Points stat category wasn’t tracking correctly in the Drop-in HUB
• Fixed an issue where sometimes a row of stadium chairs is present in Dressing Room when backing out of Customize Club
• Fixed an issue where the Ones rewards bags were showing the same bag art even though they were different in content
• Fixed an issue where certain cameras had clipping issues in Junior Stadium 1
• Changed some of the goalie pom-pom toque patterns to resolve a few seam issues
• Fixed an issue where the roll over timer was still active in the Pro-Am post game flow
• Fixed an issue where too many slots where being shown in the dressing room once everyone was Ready
• Added a trophy win cut-scene for completing Pro-Am tournaments
• Added the Action Tracker and Box score to the Pause Menus within World of CHEL
• Polished up animations in the Player/Club progression in the post-game flow
• Added additional Casual Jerseys to earn through hockey bags:
  • Anaheim Ducks Alternate Jersey
  • Arizona Coyotes Alternate Jersey
  • Buffalo Sabres Alternate Jersey
  • Carolina Hurricanes Alternate Jersey
  • Montreal Canadiens Classic Jersey
  • New Jersey Devils Alternate Jersey
  • New York Rangers Stadium Jersey
  • Ottawa Senators Alternate Jersey
  • Philadelphia Flyers Alternate Jersey
  • St. Louis Blues Alternate Jersey
  • Toronto Maple Leafs Alternate Jersey
  • Toronto Maple Leafs Stadium Jersey
  • Washington Capitals Stadium Jersey

Creation Zone

• Added over 40 Adidas template uniforms

GAMEPLAY

AI

• Fixed some cases where the AI would not target the puck correctly on poke checks
• Fixed a case where the AI would get stuck behind the net in Threes
• Improvements made to the AI to divert them away from the net when picking up the puck around their goaltender
• Fixed some cases where players would divert away from the boards during some breakouts
• Improvements made to make the CPU win the faceoff towards a teammate more reliably when there is only one defenseman
• Improvements to teammate puck support in board play

Defensive Skill Stick / Poke Checking

• Fixed added to ensure you won't trip a skater when exiting/blending out of Crouch Block
• Fixed some cases where players would get called for tripping while a goaltender is carrying the puck
• Fixed various cases where Defensive Skill Stick was not going to the location where the Right Stick was held before going into Defensive Skill Stick

General

• Fixed some cases where passes off backhand would play a forehand animation unexpectedly
• Fixed a case where a user would rarely lose control of their player off a line change
• Fixes made to faceoff formations
• Improvements made to increase the consistency of player switching
• Fixed cases where goalie interference was being called even after the goalie was able to fully recover
• Various coach feedback tuning and bug fixes
• Various desync fixes

Goalies

• Fixed a case where a user goalie could get stuck in the paddle down position
• Fixed a case where a user goalie would temporarily lose the functionality to poke check
• Reduced the dead zone on the left stick which was causing inconsistent movement on precision pushes
• Various improvements made to puck cover consistency
• Various improvements made to tracking possessed pucks on breakaways
• Various goalie animation fixes

Physics

• Improvements made to prevent skaters from being unable to get up when they are knocked down
• Fixed a case where a user would rarely lose control of their player when knocked down
• Improvements made to rebalance ‘get up’ and ‘stumble’ timings after a collision
• Improvements made to a variety of ‘get up’ animations

Pickups

• Various improvements made to pickup animations
• Improvements made to puck pickup consistency
• Change to make players a bit more aggressive pivoting to forward to receive passes
• Applied a change to make players slightly more aggressive when they are pivoting to forward to receive a pass
• Applied changes to make players not reach as much on loose pucks as they were leaving the player too vulnerable

Shooting

• Improvements to shot blending out of dekes to improve consistency
• Fix for players sometimes turning to shot target before attempting one timer
• Various shooting animation improvements

Skating

• Removed the ability to backhand toe drag when back skating
• Improvements to make vision control more consistent
• Various skater animation fixes
• Improvements made to skater animations for when a skater is going into an idle animation from a stop
• Fixed an issue that was causing spin-o-rama to rotate further than intended
• Changes made to pivot speed to make it more affected by player rating
• Various skating transition fixes

Specializations

• Various specialization bug fixes and tuning

GAME MODES/PRESENTATION

Franchise Mode

• Improved CPU-team signing logic. Teams will now try to reserve cap space for pending RFAs and UFAs on their roster.
• Improved salary demands of players to be more in-line with the real world
• Improved defenseman scoring in Franchise Mode during sims
• More accurate TOI/G for European prospects
• Updated Amateur Scouting Strengths and Weakness reports to reduce the amount of Reach weaknesses generated
• Added a popup at the beginning of the pre-season to remind the user to assign scouts
• Added a popup at the beginning of the re-sign phase to remind the user to re-sign their Scouts
• Fixed an issue where the user can hire scouts when they were not allowed to
• Fixed a crash during Expansion Mode team creation
• Added player handedness and player type as Player Search filter options
• Fixed an issue where the Draft Board became unusable after pinning 20-year-old undrafted players who became Free Agents
• Added a pop-up in the Roster Moves screen that tells the user if a player was claimed off waivers
• Added Scout Depth Chart to the Hire Scouts screen
• Added Team Depth Chart to Region Assignment screen
• Fixed an issue where overall did not show in the Retain Salary screen when Fog of War was off
• During the pre-season, minimum salary cap rules are no longer enforced
• Fixed an issue where retired players did not show their last reports on the Retirements screen
• Fixed an issue where Free Agents that needed an Entry-Level contract did not show under the 2-way filter
• Player style column added to Free Agents screen
• Fixed an issue where the user could not use the triggers to swap player cards on the Make Pick screen at the Draft
• Added a banner on the Amateur player card that shows if that player is being scouted
• Added functionality to the player card that allows the user to press up/down to navigate pages
• Added functionality to the Amateur player card that allows the user to open Full Career Stats for Amateur players
• UX Improvements to the Assign Scout and Select Prospects screen
• Miscellaneous UI/UX Improvements throughout the mode
• Improved how the CPU will handout Entry level contracts to lower end drafted players
• Improved logic in how the CPU will put Goalies on the trade block when having 2 starters on the team
• Improved junior goalies’ games played stats

Online Versus

• Disabled Position lock for “competitive” Versus games. Users can still position lock in co-op/casual games

Uniforms

The following jerseys have been added to NHL 19:

• NHL
  • New Jersey Devils Alternate
  • St. Louis Blues Alternate
• EBEL
  • HC Orli Znojmo Home and Away

Source: EA Forums

Edit: Added the change that EA made to their notes: "Fixed added to ensure you won't trip a skater when exiting/blending out of Crouch Block"

Hi there NHLGamers,

We come bearing sad news to you, as EA Sports has today announced that the Challenge Club-function will not be present at launch in NHL 19. Don't panic just yet, though! The devs also made sure to let us know that this feature will be available again in the first patch early October.
 

Why?

The all new World of Chel required a rewrite of the old dressing room function EA had. World of Chel has a bunch of new features, such as the outdoor ones and rollover lobbies, which have certain requirements for the dressing room function. The previous Club Challenge dressing room was very restrictive tech-wise and didn't allow for much improvements. This restrictive structure didn't align with the vision EA has for EASHL, as they are now building a new dressing room function to allow maximum control for the player when setting up games with friends.

What?

In NHL 19, a new dressing room function will be implemented. When patched into the game, you will be able to select between a few game types in the dressing room. For what we know as Challenge Club, choose "Private Game". You will have to select a password for your game, after which a protected lobby will be created. All invited players will now be able to join the lobby using your password. This is how EA describes the process:

1. When you are in the Dressing Room, go to Matchmaking Settings. Set “Game Type” to “Private Game.”
2. Create an alphanumeric password between 4 and 10 characters. Make it unique enough so only you and your friends and opponents will know it.
3. You will then be able to select your side. You can choose between Any, Home, and Away.
4. Ready up.
5. From here, you will match up directly with other players that entered same password that you used.

This new dressing room will provide more control to the player in setting up games. We'll also see the highly requested option for club challenges in EASHL 3's and also the option to randomize teams. When the dressing room is patched in, there will also be a number of more features to it, these will be announced closer to the patch date.
 

When?

You can expect the patch to be out early October. Assuming that this goes as planned, this will have no impact on the start of the ECL 7 season.

Hey NHLGamers,

On Friday I had the privilege to attend the NHL 19 press event in Helsinki and talk with lead producer Sean "Rammer" Ramjagsingh about the game.

A couple weeks ago we asked you to  send us your questions for the NHL developers and once again the community delivered! We had a bunch of messages on the forums, Twitter and Facebook and while I didn't get the chance to ask all of them, I'm positive that we got most of them covered.

The event itself was very well organized and this time around EA had set up plenty of game units connected to the internet, so even the most serious gamers could play head to head without the disadvantage of playing down-screen.

NHL Gaming World Championship 2018 winner Erik "@Eki" Tammenpää, who recently joined Sampi, was a very wanted guy for the press at this event and he was giving interviews left and right throughout the day. I also had the pleasure of playing my only game of NHL 19 against him and an exciting game it was!

There were quite an amount of familiar faces at the event and you should be able to find at least @Dominointi, @Eki, @Hansulinho @MakezCR @Nieppii & @PleeMaker in this video. It was a pleasure to meet the guys, as always!

« Huge thanks to all of the NHLGamer community out there for all your beta feedback! »
-EA Sports NHL producer Sean Ramjagsingh extending a thanks to our community

Rammer and the dev team was very pleased to see that our community had sent us loads of questions, we were even able to provide some ideas they haven't thought of previously. The producer and the whole team wanted to extend a thanks to all of you.

 

« As the community knows, EASHL in my opinion is one of the greatest experiences we have in the game. By building out the World of Chel and the multiple different experiences, I feel like we can lower the barrier of entry into the EASHL ecosystem which is only going to make the competition better. » 
– Rammer on the development of World of Chel and EASHL

We were very pleased to hear that the thought behind World of Chel wasn't just to bring out an enjoyable game-mode, but also to lower the barrier for new players to enter and experience the fun of EASHL. Hopefully we'll see a growth in the player base of EASHL and get even more skilled players into our community.

 « I think being able to practice is a big part of the learning curve in EASHL from a team-play perspective. This year we made a big decision to try and build out the experience around EASHL with the World of Chel. We think it’ll be an important tool for us to bring newbies and more people into the competitive EASHL scene. » – Rammer on Practice mode in EASHL

Without further ado, check out the video below!

Quote

 

Table of contents:
---------------------------------------------------------

0:26 Intro

GAMEPLAY
1:19 How hard is porting existing features to a new engine like Frostbite?
2:15 Goalies taking control of the extra skater on a delayed penalty? (+ insight into World of CHEL and general dev constraints)
5:00 Observation feature in EASHL and other game modes?
6:16 Translucent goalies in behind-the-net cameras when the puck is in the slot?
7:05 Faceoff tweaks (including the removed backhand-forehand fake)?

GAMEMODES
8:36 Captains and Assistant Captains in EASHL and other modes?
9:12 Practice mode in EASHL?
11:06 NHL Ones playable with friends?
12:13 Custom logos in EASHL?
13:45 Custom jersey styles in Franchise Mode by Reebok/Adidas?
14:12 Aside of amateur and pro scouting, what other changes made it into Franchise Mode?

GENERAL
15:19 Additional languages for in-game commentary?
16:38 Custom music in the game?
17:09 Rink selection between NHL and international sizes? (+ insight into building Threes arenas)
18:14 Up to date real life goalie equipment in the game?
20:10 Shoutout for updated player profile pictures (+ what about the refs?)
21:03 Saving line changes for the Online VS mode?
22:05 Changes to Hockey Ultimate Team?
23:52 Goodbye

24:02 Outro

 

What do you think? Did you like what you heard? Something we missed? Let us know in the comments.

Hey NHLGamers,

if you happen to be a trophy collector like me, you might be interested in the NHL 19 trophies & achievements that have been revealed today! We'll list all the trophies and their description/tier in the same order they are displayed on PlayStation Network. Here you go!

Raise Your Banner '19 (Platinum)
Acquire all of the Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies.

Someone get that kid the puck! (Bronze)
Play and score your 1st NHL goal in a regular season game.

You're not Cut (Bronze)
Make your NHL team out of the preseason in Be a Pro.

Champion (Bronze)
Win the Stanley Cup® in Be A Pro mode.

Getting Drafted (Bronze)
Get drafted to an NHL team in Be A Pro Mode.

Practice Makes Perfect (Bronze)
Complete all training camp drills.

CHL Scout (Bronze)
Assign a scout to one of the WHL, OHL or QMJHL regions in Franchise Mode.

Cup Champs (Bronze)
Win the Stanley Cup as the 32nd NHL team in Franchise Mode.

Fully Scouted! (Bronze)
Assign a scout to create a potential and comparison report on an amateur player.

Pro Scout Master (Bronze)
Assign a scout to create 5 Complete Reports on 5 NHL Players.

3 Star Performance (Bronze)
Complete and win an NHL® Threes Circuit Game with 3 Stars.

King of the west (Bronze)
Defeat the final boss of the Western Circuit in NHL® Threes.

Cooperative (Bronze)
Complete and win an Online Co-op NHL® Threes Circuit Game.

Star Collector (Silver)
Collect all the stars in an NHL® Threes Circuit.

Circuit King (Bronze)
Win the final circuit trophy for NHL® Threes Mode.

Mascot Winner (Bronze)
Win a game as either Mascots West or Mascots East in a Threes Now game in NHL® Threes Mode.

Dropping In (Bronze)
Play a game of Drop-in Threes.

Best of the Bunch (Bronze)
Win a Ones game.

Diamond Rink! (Bronze)
Play in a final rink game in Ones.

Enhance! (Bronze)
Complete a game with 2 traits and a specialty applied to your player.

Bag of Goodies (Bronze)
Open your first Progression Rewards bag.

Who's the Pro Now? (Bronze)
Win a Pro-Am game.

Conference Champions (Bronze)
Be a member of an EASHL club that has recently won a Division Title and return to the Seasons HUB.

Overtime Heroics (Bronze)
In a World of CHEL game, score the game-winning overtime goal.

You'll always remember your first (Bronze)
Score your first goal as a skater or complete and win your first game as a goalie.

How Prestigious (Silver)
Level up your World of CHEL pro past Player Level 50.

Flip Biscuit (Gold)
Score a goal by flipping the puck back against the grain from the backhand toe drag in any mode.

Extend the Twig (Bronze)
Deflect a shot with the Defensive Skill Stick in any mode.

Kids a Beauty (Silver)
Score a goal with a between the legs shot in any mode.

Not My Bottle! (Bronze)
Knock off the opposing goalie's bottle from the net by scoring a goal.

Manual Sauce (Bronze)
Get an assist from a manual saucer pass in any mode.

Tee it up (Silver)
Score a goal with a manual one timer in any mode.

Own the crease (Bronze)
Have a shutout and win a game as a user-controlled goalie in any mode.

Costume Party (Bronze)
Score a goal as a Mascot in an NHL® Threes game.

Tuck me in (Silver)
Score a goal with a one hand tuck in any mode.

Apple a Day (Silver)
Get an assist with a between the legs pass in any mode.

Contract Extension (Bronze)
Use a contract item on any Gold grade player in Hockey Ultimate Team.

Winner, Winner (Bronze)
Win a game (online or offline) in Hockey Ultimate Team.

You're all set (Bronze)
Complete a set in Hockey Ultimate Team.

Auctioneer (Bronze)
Buy or Sell an item in the auction house in Hockey Ultimate Team.

Take it online (Bronze)
Complete an Online game in Hockey Ultimate Team.

First Overall (Bronze)
Complete an NHL® Draft Champions Draft.

Specialized (Silver)
Collect a special item in Hockey Ultimate Team.

Legendary! (Silver)
Collect a legend item in Hockey Ultimate Team.

So HUT right now! (Silver)
Recently win the title in a Hockey Ultimate Team Season and return to the Hockey Ultimate Team Hub.

Seeing Stars (Silver)
Earn a total 50 Stars in HUT Challenges.

Committed (Silver)
Collect 100 Free Packs in Hockey Ultimate Team.

HUT Superstar! (Gold)
Reach Division 1 in Online Seasons in Hockey Ultimate Team.

Super Synergized (Silver)
Have every player on your active Hockey Ultimate Team Lineup have an active Synergy.

Overall, there are 49 trophies to obtain, including 1 Platinum, 2 Gold, 12 Silver and 34 Bronze. As usual there are some similarities to the predecessor, but we are also seeing a couple of new trophies for this iteration. Will you be going for the Platinum trophy in NHL 19? Which trophy do you believe will be hardest to get?

@gzell60

Hey NHLGamers,

Today, the final NHL 19 soundtrack was released! Like in recent history, it comes with a good mix between pop and rock songs from popular mainstream as well as lesser known artists. Below you can find the entire list. Finland, welcome your represents JVG!

• Arkells – “People’s Champ”
• Bishop Briggs – “White Flag”
• Don Diablo – “Head Up” feat. James Newman
• Grandson – “Blood//Water”
• Greta Van Fleet – “When The Curtain Falls”
• Imagine Dragons – “Natural”
• JVG – “Tarkenee” (only available in the Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish soundtrack!)
• King Tuff – “Psycho Star”
• Moon Taxi – “Good As Gold”
• Ohana Bam – “All Roads Lead Home”
• Panic! At The Disco – “High Hopes”
• Parade Of Lights – “I Want It All”
• Parquet Courts – “Almost Had To Start A Fight/In And Out Of Patience”
• Robert DeLong – “Favorite Color Is Blue” feat. K.Flay
• SUR – “Make It To Morning”
• The Blancos – “Know My Name”
• The Cool Quest – “Goodlife”
• The Struts – “Bulletproof Baby”
• Tom Morello feat. Gary Clark Jr. and Nico Stadi – “Where It’s At Ain’t What It Is”
• twenty one pilots – “Jumpsuit”
• Wallows – “Pulling Leaves Off Trees”

Check out all the tracks on Spotify:

What is your favourite song? Tell us in the comments!

@gzell60

Hey NHLGamers,

with NHL 19 approaching rapidly (EA Access trials on Xbox One will be opened up in just 5 days!), we have now received more insight into how all of the open beta feedback - including ours, thank you for submitting your opinions! - from the past few weeks was received. The following changes have been made for the full release of NHL 19:

+++

NHL 19 Release Version (1.0.0)

Gameplay

• Physics
  • Fixes to physics tensions and joint limits
  • Hip check improvements
  • Improvements to stumble fall animations
  • Various animation blend fixes during physics reactions
• Skating
  • Improvements to stop animations and transitions from stop to stand
  • Improvements to pivot direction consistency
  • Various animation improvements
• Goalie
  • Fixed a user goalie blend after passing the puck out
  • Various fixes to saves where the pads were not flush to the ice
  • Fixed a case where goalies would get stuck in free skate in Ones
  • Fixed some known cases for users getting stuck in butterfly
• Poke Check
  • Improvements to collision volumes to more accurately detect incidental stick on stick or stick on body contact
  • Fixed some cases where the defensive player could contact the puck after their stick went through the puck carrier’s geometry
  • Fixes to conditions where the blend out of a poke check was still causing trips
• Puck Pickups
  • Fixed an issue to allow the player to pick up their own pass if it was blocked/deflected
  • Improvements to interception balance based on player ratings
  • Improvements to staying onside during pickups
  • Various improvements to puck pickup animations
• Specializations
  • Various fixes to specializations and traits
• General
  • Improve player support to get to loose pucks
  • Fixed various desyncs
  • Protect puck stumble animations added
  • Improvements to CPU behaviour on breakaways and shootouts
  • Improve logic to prevent accidental manual RS Switching
  • Various fixes to fighting and scrum alignment
  • Fixes to faceoff alignment in World of CHEL
  • Seen once the AI skater will remain idle behind the net
  • Fixes to control hints in training camp

Presentation

• Various fixes to overlays not clearing properly
• Improvements to multiplayer hugs
• Various camera fixes
• Fixes to cameras clipping with crowd and arena geometry
• Lighting and Material improvements/fixes. Player skin will now appear more accurate
• New cameras added for each of the venues within NHL Ones

World of CHEL

• Fixed various desyncs when going into gameplay in 3v3 and 6v6 drop in
• Fixed various crashes in the Dressing Room while opening hockey bags
• Fixed various crashes while customizing in the dressing room while match making
• Fixed a soft lock in the post match up dressing room, when one user would open the loadout selection screen as the timer ran out

+++

Furthermore, we have received a list of changes that did not make it in time for the disc release, but will be available as a day one update when you first start up NHL 19.

+++

NHL 19 Day One Update (1.1.0)

Gameplay

• General
  • Disabled various player interactions (fights, scrums, instigations) during Ones
  • To compliment the fix to the bug that allowed you to win a forehand draw while using the backhand grip we made some faceoff balance changes
    • Backhand stick lift now beats the tieup
    • Forehand stick lift now beats the Backhand stick lift
  • Removed broken sticks from online modes
  • Fixed cases where CPU players were still taking penalties in non player locked online games
• Goalies
  • Improvements to AI goalies from sharp angles
• Poke Checking
  • Fixed cases where poke checks were tripping a player after getting puck first
  • Fixes to accuracy of poke checks on stationary/slow moving loose pucks
  • Fixed a case where players were not being tripped after consecutive pokes
  • Various additional poke check targeting fixes
• Uniforms
  • NHL
  • Anaheim Ducks 3rd Uniform
  • EBEL
  • EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz
  • Red Bull Salzburg Home and Away
  • Vienna Capitals Home and Away
• Stadium Updates
  • Updated scoreboard in the Prudential Center

World of CHEL

• The game now defaults to preset home and away tops in 6v6 instead of user assigned casual tops. This resolves visual confusion during gameplay.
• Various changes to customization items for better in-game readability
• Fixed an issue where gameplay assets were being rendered in the main menu
• Fixed a case where the game would frequently hang when going into a 6v6 game of drop in
• Fixed rare crashes when rolling over to the dressing room after a match
• Fixed a rare crash in the post game screen due to Voip conflicts.
• Fixed a rare desync at the puck drop in Ones
• Fixed various issues where the game would crash when moving from one mode to another

+++

What stands out most in our opinion are the changes applied to faceoffs as well as pokechecks. Even though a lot of players have been asking for the backhand-to-forehand switch to return, it is not coming back, and instead we are seeing adjustments to the 'rock papers scissors' mechanic as backhand sticklifts now beat the tie-up, and backhand sticklifts can be countered with forehand sticklifts.

Furthermore, we are seeing another increase in punishing bad pokechecks by fixing rare occasions where a stick going through a skater's body did not result in a trip, while at the same time pokecheck targeting seems to have been improved. We expect these changes to reward good defensive positioning even further, now that the RNG aspect has been toned down.

What do you think of the changelogs above? Did EA SPORTS meet your expectations?

@gzell60

Update: We have received more details about the Cover Athlete, Legend and Rookie items that are part of the Legend and Ultimate editions. These were added to the Legend edition description.

Hey NHLGamers,

Today marks the last day of August, which means we are about to enter CHEL MONTH! It also means we at NHLGamer are about to come back to life from our short summer break, and with NHL 19 on the horizon, we felt like helping you find your way through the maze of different editions to pick the option best suited to you. Welcome to our Buyer's Guide!

NHL 19 Standard Edition (69,99€ / 59.99$)

To start off, let's take a look at the three preorder options. First: The Standard Edition. Without surprises, this one comes with:

• Base game
• 5 Hockey Ultimate Team Packs (1 per week for 5 weeks)

It's available in retail stores (check if your retailer features the 5 HUT Packs as a preorder bonus!) as well as on PSN and Xbox Live, and releases September 14th.

Digital preorders:

• PSN (EU)
• PSN (US)
• Xbox Live

NHLGamer thinks: "The Standard Edition is the best choice for anyone who is looking to play NHL 19 for as cheap as possible and does not care whether he or she is able to get started later than other players. With 5 HUT Packs until October, it's a good option for players that are intrigued to take a peek at the HUT game mode. As it is the only edition available at retailers, keep an eye out for potential deals (coupons etc.) to lower the price even further compared to the digital listing. If you are on the fence whether or not to get NHL 19 at all, grab the physical copy and reserve the chance to re-sell it used down the road."

NHL 19 Legends Edition (89,99€ / 79.99$)

On top of the content in the NHL 19 Standard Edition, the Legends Edition includes:

• 3 days early access
• An additional 15 Hockey Ultimate Team Packs (total: 1 per week for 20 weeks)
• 1 HUT Cover Athlete Item
  • Wayne Gretzky (85 OVR)
  • P. K. Subban (80 OVR)
  • William Nylander (80 OVR)
  • Patrik Laine (80 OVR)
• 1 HUT Legend Item (85 OVR)
  • Mats Sundin
  • Peter Forsberg
  • Mark Messier
  • Guy Lafleur
  • Brett Hull
  • Marcel Dionne
• 1 HUT Rookie Item (80 OVR)
  • Ondrej Kase
  • Clayton Keller
  • Charlie McAvoy
  • Casey Mittelstadt
  • Noah Hanifin
  • Teuvo Teräväinen
  • Alex Debrincat
  • Mikko Rantanen
  • Pierre-Luc Dubois
  • Esa Lindell
  • Anthony Mantha
  • Jesse Puljujärvi
  • Jared McCann
  • Adrian Kempe
  • Jordan Greenway
  • Charles Hudon
  • Kevin Fiala
  • Nico Hischier
  • Mat Barzal
  • Pavel Buchnevich
  • Thomas Chabot
  • Nolan Patrick
  • Zach Aston-Reese
  • Timo Meier
  • Vince Dunn
  • Mikhail Sergachev
  • Mitch Marner
  • Brock Boeser
  • Alex Tuch
  • Jakub Vrana
  • Kyle Connor
• 1 Unlocked World of Chel 'Hockey Bag' 

This edition is not available in retail stores, and can only be obtained digitally on PSN and Xbox Live, with access on September 11.

Digital preorders:

• PSN (EU)
• PSN (US)
• Xbox Live

NHLGamer thinks: "In our opinion, the NHL 19 Legends Editions offers the greatest value at its price - but only if you are interested in Hockey Ultimate Team! With a total of 20 HUT packs scattered across 4 months until January 2019, and 3 items that will be available instantly, it is guaranteed to give you a decent head start and is recommended for players that are already familiar with Hockey Ultimate Team, willing to keep up with its developments in the long run. With 3 days of early access, it is also the best option for hardcore players on PS4 that want to get on the ice as soon as possible."

NHL 19 Ultimate Edition (99,99€ / 99.99$)

On top of the content in the NHL 19 Legends Edition, the Ultimate Edition includes:

• An additional 20 Hockey Ultimate Team Packs (total: 2 per week for 20 weeks)

As with the Legends edition, it is not available in retail stores and can only be obtained digitally on PSN and Xbox Live, with access on September 11.

Digital preorders:

• PSN (EU)
• PSN (US)
• Xbox Live

NHLGamer thinks: "Most likely the option that is most difficult to justify. We believe it's best suited for hardcore HUT players that have money to spend and don't want to miss out on 20 additional HUT packs for 10€/20$ more. Considering EA's HUT strategy during recent years, this money could also be spent on limited time special packs that have a higher chance of top draws, guaranteed collectibles or other goodies, and will start to appear about a month after release."

EA Access Play First Trial (Xbox One only, 3,99€ / 4.99$ per month)

With EA Access, Xbox One players have an additional option of playing NHL 19 early. At 4€/5$ for a 1 month subscription, it allows you to access NHL 19 on September 6 as well as a couple of other trials like FIFA 19 and Battlefield 5 and a selection of older EA games in the EA Vault. Keep in mind though: You can only play each trial for a total of 10 hours! For more details about EA Access, click here.

NHLGamer thinks: "If you're playing on Xbox One and you are not interested in playing Hockey Ultimate Team, but want to be one of the first to start playing NHL 19, grabbing one month of EA access together with the NHL 19 Standard Edition seems to be the best mix - especially if you have some love for other EA games as well. And if HUT happens to be one of your favourite game modes, pick up the Legends or Ultimate Edition afterwards to increase your head start even further."

Were we able to help you with your buying decision? Let us know in the comments below and don't forget to share your choice with everyone else!

@gzell60

Hi there NHLGamers,

The release of EA Sports NHL 19 is nigh and us gamers are slowly returning from the wild outside and sunny beaches towards the familiar comfort of our gaming stations and consoles. Today we're bringing you some news about the new title, this time in the form of some reworks and additions for the Hockey Ultimate Team mode.

In NHL 18, one of the major problems with HUT was the quick inflation of the market caused by a few various factors. Most notably, the lower overalls and bigger gap between low and high rated players went out the door very fast as a wide variety of special player items were released early on. The fact that the market was flooded early on also diminished the incentive for several players to chase higher rated players, as similar items were so easily available. Another problem encountered in HUT games were gamers position-locking themselves, the mere possibility of doing so received heavy criticism as it steps back on the competitiveness and overall fairness of the game. It also defeats the purpose of PvP-play.

EA announced that they are going to try their best to address these problems in the new release, which is only 16 days away (13 for early release). This leads us into discussing some of the changes made from previous years iteration. 

Changes to NHL 19 HUT

Rebalancing the economy is going to be one of the main priorities in making HUT fun for the gamers. The development team has a few answers for achieving a better market balance and avoiding the inflation we saw in NHL 18.

First off, overalls have been lowered even more than last year. In NHL 19 HUT base item overalls will range from 55-85 at launch, with a few exceptions being Alumni and Legend items. The lower overalls will allow for more stat growth to happen throughout the year.

Secondly, the player item class/rarity division has been revamped. In NHL 18 the class/rarity ranging from bronze to gold directly reflected the league the player played in. All CHL players were bronze items, all NHL players were gold items. This didn't allow for effective leveraging of the entire player catalogue. In NHL 19 we will see a change, where the item class/rarity reflects the overall of the player in question, not the league the player plays in. Here is how the class/rarity system works in NHL 19:

• 50-55 OVR Bronze Common
• 56-61 OVR Bronze Rare
• 62-67 OVR Silver Common
• 68-73 OVR Silver Rare
• 74-79 OVR Gold Common
• 80+ OVR Gold Rare
   

A new class/rarity division will allow for a more effective way of sorting players and it will also make higher rated players harder to obtain, regardless of the league they play in.

In addition to these two courses of action, the weekly live items are being changed. As the release frequency during NHL 18 was very high with four live items being released each week. NHL 19 will not feature Flashback player weekly items anymore, making for less new player items hitting the market.

Trade-in sets have been renewed a bit too in order to make unwanted and lower rarity cards more valuable to the gamer. At launch, NHL 19 will feature six different player trade-in sets:

• 5 Bronze Common Players -> 1 Bronze Rare Player (6 hour cool down)
• 5 Bronze Rare Players -> 1 Silver Common Player (6 hour cool down)
• 5 Silver Common Players -> 1 Silver Rare Player (6 hour cool down)
• 5 Silver Rare Players -> 1 Gold Common Player (6 hour cool down)
• 5 Gold Common Players -> 1 Untradeable Gold Rare Player (8 hour cool down)
• Gold Rare Re-Roll (2 Gold Rare Players -> 1 Untradeable Gold Rare Player) (8 hour cool down)
   

NHL 19 will also feature a trade-in set, which will allow trading five gold rare players for a gold rare collectible. This trade-in set will have a 24 hour cooldown.

Other than having less player items flooding the market, NHL 19 will have position lock from HUT removed. 

New additions to NHL 19 HUT

Well, right off the bat one of the new additions will be the much advertised 200+ alumni and legend items available for HUT gamers. According to EA, the legends and alumni will range all the way from all-time greats to local legends and fan favourites. 30 alumni player items will be available all year from the HUT store, and the rest will be released in weekly waves, with availability being time limited. Gamers will have four main ways of obtaining legend player items. 32 legends will be available in sets at launch. Some will be released as monthly collectibles available for gamers who have completed daily objectives, which is another new addition we will discuss in a bit. Seven legend items can be obtained by completing various in-game milestone tasks, such as scoring goals, completing sets or taking shots on goal. On top of these three ways, there will be legend packs in the HUT store. Legend packs will be available for a limited time and contain a guaranteed legend item from a pre-selected pool.

Objectives are a new addition that might resemble daily challenges for all our Fortnite players out there. EA promises to introduce various types of objectives in NHL 19, as there will be daily tasks, but also progression objectives and special event objectives in HUT. Objectives reward the gamer with HUT items of various types.

Milestones aren't a new term, but they will be introduced in a whole new way in NHL 19. They are long-term goals with impressive rewards as you go about your progression in HUT. Some milestones could be goals scored, challenge stars earned or objectives completed. Milestones will have higher rewards than objectives.

Loan Players might be familiar to FIFA gamers, who have played a bit of FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team). This addition brings you the opportunity to try out star players in your line-up for a limited time before heading to the auction house to spend your hard-earned coins. Loan items can be earned in many ways, such as through completing objectives or surpassing milestones to name a few.
 

So there you have it, it seems like a bunch of needed changes have been done to HUT for NHL 19. Is it a hit or a miss - what do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Source: https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2018/hut-deep-dive

Hey NHLGamers,

Let me start off by thanking you - our community - for the excellent feedback that you submitted based on the NHL 19 Beta! I can confirm that the feedback was received in Vancouver and we have been thanked for submitting it.

Next week we will have a great opportunity  to talk to some of the EA SPORTS NHL producers face to face. Like last year, we are aiming for another interview compiled from your feedback and specific questions about the NHL series. 

This opportunity is truly a great way for everyone to voice their opinion and to keep our community and its members recognized as a valuable source of direct community feedback for the development team in Vancouver.

How do I submit the feedback/questions?

Easy in many ways!

1) Use the comment section below or
2) Write to us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

(Pro tip: Use all of the channels to increase your chance of making it to our list of questions!)

Last week EA SPORTS released the most wanted thing of the summer by releasing the NHL19 Open Beta. There had been a lot of talk around the web on whether it would come out or not, but it eventually did and the first impressions around the community have been very positive. The new skating mechanics looks and feels amazing and the feedback especially around 6vs6 has been mostly very great. This is of course a beta and a lot of improvements are still to be made. As one of the biggest NHL gaming sites in the world - not to mention the amazing talent and passion of our community members - we want to help out.

So here's the deal: We want to hear what you guys think, so we can forward it to EA SPORTS in a well structured and articulated way. We hope you take some time and write about your experiences (both the good and the bad) and possible issues and solutions that you have run into and hopefully this will help us all get the greatest NHL version yet!

You may write your feedback in any format you want, but we have included the below structure, as presented by EA SPORTS NHL Community Manager Tyler Horsfall on Twitter.

1. NHL Ones
2. NHL THREES Drop-In (Arcade Threes)
3. EASHL Drop-Ins (Please specify if it is in 3s/6s/both)
4. EASHL Club 3s
5. EASHL Club 6s
6. AI skaters in World of Chel (specify mode + how many AI)
7. AI goalies in World of Chel (specify mode)
8. AI goalies in EASHL (specify if in 3s/6s)
9. Customization: Player Classes + Traits/Specializations
10. Customization: Gear (Casual + Pro gear + Gear Bags)
11. Other World of Chel related feedback
12. Online Vs.
13. AI Skaters in Online Vs.
14. AI Goalies in Online Vs.
15. Skating
16. Hitting (Collision Physics)
17. Pokechecking
18. Offensive Play (i.e. how did it feel to play defense? How easy was it? Was there a skill gap? Were there limitations?)
19. Defensive Play (i.e. how did it feel to play defense? How easy was it? Was there a skill gap? Were there limitations?)
20. Other (anything not covered here)
21. Human Goalies in EASHL

We would prefer your thoughts in English, as it will make the process quicker and make for a better discussion here in the community, as all can participate. However, we know there are those who can express themselves better in their maternal language, so for this purpose, we have made this topic discussable in some more languages in their specific topics:

• English (this news story)
• Finnish
• German
• Russian
• Swedish

Thanks to @chavelski, @gzell60, @MAYZIIX and @Janikka for the help and translations!    

UPDATE: The beta is now available for download on both PS4 and Xbox One!

PS4 (EU): https://store.playstation.com/de-de/product/EP0006-CUSA12556_00-NHL2019BETAGAME1
Xbox One: https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/store/p/NHL-19-Beta/BNR3SCCFP0D6

Hey NHLGamers!

Out of nowhere, the NHL 19 Open Beta was just announced via the PlayStation Blog. And best of all: It is set to start today!

Timing:
The Open Beta takes place from July 26 to August 2.

World of Chel:
The following modes will be included in the NHL 19 Open Beta:

• NHL Ones
• NHL Threes
• Pro-Am
• EA SPORTS Hockey League

The announcement also hints at a comeback of (partly) customizable player classes:

Quote

When creating your character for the Beta, you’ll choose from twelve skater or three goalie classes that determine your ratings, abilities, and playstyle. [...] 

You’ll also be able to equip your character with traits that impact attribute ratings, and specialties that give your team boosts in certain situational moments. Traits have positive and negative impacts on skater performance, such as the Booming Slapper trait, which boosts your players’ shot power, but also decreases accuracy. Specialties can give you and your teammates bonuses in particular moments, such as a stamina increase after scoring a goal. Keep in mind the size of your player when determining your strategy, as height and weight affect skating speed, skating style, balance, hitting, and other attributes.

Which of you guys will be hopping on NHL 19 beta ice tonight?! Let us know!

@gzell60

Hey NHLGamers, it's that time of year - NHL 19 full Feature Reveal!

In the early hours of the morning (from a European perspective), at the NHL Awards, EA Sports dropped perhaps more information than usual regarding the upcoming NHL, detailing not only the cover athlete but also a whole host of features / modes in order to spice up the game and drive sales. Without further ado however, here is the official reveal trailer. 

The Cover

First and foremost, we will begin with the cover athlete for this years upcoming NHL. P.K. Subban has been chosen to grace the cover of NHL 19, whilst there was some speculation regarding whether he was even eligible as he had appeared on a cover previously (NHL 13, Quebec exclusive), it seems the NHL either overlooked this or felt that this previous inclusion was not perhaps official enough? 
 

The Features

Moving on to the nitty gritty of what NHL 19 will entail, and boy is it a lot, so sit back and relax because this could be a while. For ease of access, the main points chosen by EA on their website will be listed below:

WHAT'S NEW

In NHL® 19, play on outdoor rinks and journey from the ponds to the pros in new and returning game modes. Compete with and against 200 of the greatest hockey legends to ever hit the ice, highlighted by Wayne Gretzky. Powered by cutting-edge new gameplay technology, experience explosive-edge skating that delivers more acceleration, speed and responsiveness.

OUTDOOR HOCKEY IN WORLD OF CHEL

For the first time in franchise history, step onto the pond and compete in the EA SPORTS Hockey League, NHL THREES, Play Now and the brand new modes NHL ONES and Pro-Am. In NHL ONES, you and two other players compete in a 1v1v1 free-for-all gauntlet. Showcase your skills and creativity with no rules, no stoppages, and no limits.

RPM TECH

With RPM Tech, Explosive-edge skating enables more control over how you generate speed using edge-work and crossovers. With all new animations, you'll experience more responsiveness in acceleration, high-speed skating, and pin-point turns.

SELF EXPRESSION

Stand out on the ice with over 900 customization options from authentic NHL apparel to pond hockey lifestyle clothing from some of the biggest brands in sports. Express yourself like never before with thousands of combinations of fresh looks. Stay up to date with the latest NHL® 19 news and never miss out on gear for your avatar.

LEGENDS HAVE ARRIVED

Play with or against over 200 hockey legends spanning 100 years of NHL history and build your dream team. Superstars of today's game playing alongside historical figures of past seasons is a defining factor of one hockey.

PLAY NHL® 19

Pre-Order NHL® 19 today and get three-day early access, HUT packs, Cover Athlete items and more through the Ultimate and Legend Editions.

Outdoor hockey in World of Chel

Seen as the teaser, well, teased it, it would seem then that starting off with attempting to understand what exactly "Outdoor hockey in World of Chel" entails would be a good starting point for the analysis part of this article. 

The trailer does not show the specifics of how this feature will work per se, however their feature list does attempt to illustrate what form it will take. It seems that the 'world of chel' will take place perhaps in conjunction with EASHL. To further cement this similarity between the two areas is the inclusion of two new playable modes, namely "NHL ONES" and "Pro-Am". NHL Ones appears to be a free-for-all type of game where 3 people can face off against each other at the same time against a goalie (unfortunately AI only from what information we can gather). An example of an NHL ONES game in action can be seen below.

Additionally, based on their wording it would seem as though the beautiful setting seen above will be available in NHL threes, Play Now, EASHL, as well as the new mode "Pro-Am". Unfortunately there does not appear to be much information regarding this "Pro-Am" mode, however Polygon stipulate that it is in fact a practice mode. Rather curiously enough though Pro-Am is seemingly an online mode, whether this means EASHL now has a true practice arena / area again, or it is simply a place to admire the scenary is up for debate. Although, Gameinformer has tried to illustrate the purpose of "Pro-Am" further by stating that it is a place where players can "hone their skills against A.I before jumping into real competitions", potentially meaning that the NHL series may have a FIFA arena-esque minigame available to players prior to joining an online game. 

RPM Tech

RPM Tech appears to be another attempt by EA to further raise the quality of the skating engine used in NHL. Note, this is not part of a port over to the Frostbite engine, as from what we can tell they will still be using Ignite based on a lack of information stating otherwise and from the trailer showcasing as much. 

RPM stands for 'Real Player Movement', any FIFA players amongst us will probably have a slight feeling of déjà vu as RPM was introduced to that series last year (Polygon). What this means however is that a host of new animations have been added in order to create a much more fluid and explosive skating experience, with EA anticipating that players will feel more "responsiveness in acceleration, high speed skating and pin-point turns". Furthermore, in an interview with Polygon, Will Ho (NHL 19's creative director) relayed that RPM is especially attuned at blending different animations together, in order to facilitate smoother transitions between the two. Perhaps most important of all regarding this new 'tech' is that EA claims to have "solved" a massive issue plaguing the last few NHL series entries, namely puck pickups and their inconsistent nature. In fact, Ho went as far as saying that "We’ve basically completely addressed this issue" (Polygon).

Self Expression

One thing that almost anyone will notice when watching the trailer above is the attire of the players involved, most (if not all) are wearing clothing unique to them, ranging from flannel to camo designs. This is of course the 3rd 'feature' on EA's list, "Self Expression". In an attempt to perhaps catch people's attention and add in something that people can grind for to unlock, EA has decided to add over 900 customisation options for your personal pro, in addition to this starting amount it seems that EA will be adding more options throughout the year to further raise the amount of customisation options. Whether this broad range of choice carries over into 6s EASHL however is again up for debate as little has been released regarding the overlap between the "Outdoor world of chel" and EASHL outside of shared personal 'characters'. 

Legends Have Arrived

Now on to quite possibly the least game-changing addition, Legends. Over 200 players have been added, spanning across the 100 years of NHL history. Who these legends are however is again subject to discussion and conjecture as very little information has been released regarding this feature. It goes without saying perhaps that these players will be available across all offline modes, as well as Hockey Ultimate Team (as was the case with the legends inclusion in NHL 12). 

Pre-Order Options

For select countries there will be three pre-order options available, namely: Standard, Legend, and Ultimate. Each come with their own differing bonuses, as well as cover art.

(What "Hockey bag" means will be outlined further down in the article)

In addition to these pre-order bonuses, there will also be special 'loyalty' rewards for players returning from previous NHL iterations.

Previous owners of NHL® 16, NHL® 17, and NHL® 18 pre-order now and receive special rewards in HUT 19.

• 2 HUT packs for your first year of ownership, 3 more packs for your second year of ownership, and 5 more packs if you own all three.
• 1 HUT Cover Athlete item per year of ownership, Jonathan Toews for owners of NHL® 16, Vladimir Tarasenko for owners of NHL® 17, and Connor McDavid for owners of NHL® 18.
• 1 World of Chel Hockey Bag per year of ownership

Note: Currently the varying editions are named incorrectly/differently on both the PSN & Xbox store, whether or not this error will be attended to is unclear at the moment. On the PSN and Xbox stores the Legend Edition is named the Deluxe Edition and the Ultimate Edition is named the Super Deluxe Edition.

Extra snipets of information regarding 'The World of Chel'

If all of this seems a bit confusing regarding how 'The World of Chel' (TWoC) will interact with the already established mode of EASHL then allow me to clear up some of this mess. 

If I was to have a crack at trying to predict how TWoC will actually play out, I would say that perhaps the best parallel existing in other games right now would be 2K's NBA series, where you create a character that will be available throughout most online modes and has the opportunity to be customised to the extreme. What this could also mean unfortunately is a quite sudden retreat back to microtransactions that were found in within EASHL on last gen NHL titles. This is evidenced by the inclusion of "Hockey bags" which are proposed to be used as a means to pay for gear to customise their personal player with (Polygon). It of course should be noted that players will still be able to earn 'Hockey bags' through winning NHL ONES games. In addition to this, you will also be able earn points / currency by playing any of the other three modes under the TWoC 'umbrella' (EASHL, being one of them). 

Furthermore, it appears as though EASHL players will still have to choose player types prior to starting a game (e.g. power forward spam). What is new however is that there is now a trait system where players can pick two to slot in to two very distinct slots, namely Primary and Secondary. Primary traits will be more heavily weighted than Secondary traits, resulting in more powerful effects on their player; additionally it seems as though you can choose to activate either of these traits mid game via new UI indicators (Gameinformer). In addition to this, Gameinformer also stipulate that there are "Specialisations" that players can select from that are typically context based but can in fact benefit your teammates as well as your own player (e.g. extra energy gained in the dying seconds of a period). To help players juggle this myriad of options, EA is reportedly allowing players to save 'loadouts' to quickly select a prefered build based on the opponent they are facing. 

GM Mode

Last but not least, EA looks to have done a semi-overhaul of how scouting works within GM mode. Not only will you have the ability to handle amateur and pro scouts within your franchise, but the scouts themselves will have biases towards different regions of the world. For instance, one scout within your organisation could be excellent as discerning players within the Scandinavian region but absolutely pants at figuring out how good players are from Russia. 

All in all then what do you think about these features? Will the trait / specialisation system be strong enough to force more people away from the power forward, or will it just serve to power it further? 

I_Eki_I is the winner of the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship and $50 000 (twitch.tv/nhl)

Our very own @Eki has won the first ever NHL Gaming World Championship! Eki, who was unbeaten through the European qualifiers and the European regional finals, showed that he really is the best 1vs1 NHL 18 player in the world at the moment, as he beat every single one of his opponents in the World Finals in Las Vegas. In the finals he met JrPens91 and he won the best-of-3 series 2-0 with the scores of 2-1 and 7-3.

Huge congratulations to Eki and coach @plee999 for the success in the tournament. Also congratulations to @Artuzio for his great effort of making it into the top 6. 

A longer article will be published later.

The results of the group stage in the World Finals (twitch.tv/nhl)

The final results of the tournament (twitch.tv/nhl)

The two European players to make it into the World Finals: I_Eki_I and Artuzio, being interviewed by Andrea Helfrich (twitch.tv/NHL)

Hey NHLGamers,

Tonight is the night when the NHL will be crowning the first ever champion of the NHL World Gaming Championship and in addition to the ultimate bragging rights, that person will be walking away $50 000 (roughly 43 000 €) richer! Not too shabby, eh? 

Our very own community members Arttu "@Artuzio" Mustila and Erik "@Eki" Tammenpää are representing Europe, after coming out on top in the European Regional Finals. In case you didn't see the behind the scenes footage and the interviews with the gentlemen after securing their spots in vegas, you can check out the video below:

The six players playing in the 2018 Gaming World Championship Finals are Finnish players Erik ”I_Eki_I” Tammenpää and Arttu "Artuzio" Mustila, Canadians Nicola ”FoolX90” Bruna and Matthew ”YungGren” Grenier, and John Wayne ”JohnWaynee90” Casagranda and David ”JrPens91” Roebuck from the USA. The majority of people seem to have the opinion that the Canadians or Finns will come out on top of this, while the two representatives from the USA are expected to finish 5th and 6th. And when we say the majority of people, we're of course referring to Twitter predictions. Most of the predictions put I_Eki_I, YungGren or Foolx90 on top. Predictions are only predictions, though, and whoever plays the best will come out on top at the end of the finals and we certainly can't wait to watch this thrilling display of talent tonight.

The six finalists competing for the $50 000 main prize (picture credit: nhl.com/fans/gaming)

The NHLGWC Finals will start tonight at 22:00 CEST and while we don't know the exact details of the schedule, we know that all players will face each other once and based on these games, the top two players will face each other in a best-of-3 final. That should provide us with plenty of exciting gameplay and what we assume will be a long stream of NHL Gaming action.

Read more about the NHLGWC competitors elsewhere:

NHL.com interview with all of the finalists

Ilta-Sanomat interview with I_Eki_I (Finnish)

Ilta-Sanomat interview with Artuzio (Finnish)

The stakes for the games played are high - there's a lot of money on the line! (twitch.tv/NHL)

While we are generally speaking very unbiased here at NHLGamer, we would like to wish the best of luck to our community members @Artuzio and @Eki! Get that championship guys!

Let us know your predictions in the comments below!

PS: We're pretty sure @plee999, coaching I_Eki_I, is the best dressed coach at the event

Be sure to check out the finals embedded below or by visiting the official NHL Twitch page today, Tuesday June 19th, tarting at 22:00 CEST:

Hey NHLGamers,

We didn't get any information on NHL prior to, or even at the E3 event as we're used to, as EA SPORTS are keeping us all in suspense until tomorrow, when they will be doing a full reveal of NHL 19 at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

As expected, a teaser was released and it is in fact just that - a teaser. If you haven't seen it yet, you can enjoy this 12 second masterpiece of teasers below:

As a good teaser does, this clip doesn't do much more than confirm that NHL 19 is in fact coming and leaves you asking questions that will luckily be answered tomorrow with the full reveal. Or that's what a full reveal should do, right?

No teaser is too short for speculation, though, and discussion has been active on Facebook and Twitter. 

In the video we see what seems like a smaller and not professional hockey player - perhaps we'll finally see a full-flexed story mode, similar to the NBA2K-series or FIFA, where you start off in the minors and work your way up towards the NHL, while making character defining choices along the way. Or is it perhaps simply the availability of outdoor games? (We sure hope it's more than that.)

One of the most viewed NHL YouTubers, BaconCountry, offered his humorous take on the trailer:

What do you think? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.

That leaves us with the cover athlete speculation - who will be on the cover this year?

EA SPORTS has confirmed the athlete has never been on the cover before, so that takes Alexander Ovechkin out of the equation, as he's been featured on both the NHL 07 and NHL2K10 covers. Many have been wishing for Marc-André Fleury to be featured on the cover, as he had a phenomenal season and let's face it, fantasy covers like the one below are looking really sharp.

Based on the art in the official "Who's next?" teaser tweet, it is looking like it's going to be a skater, rather than a goalie. Assuming the skater is facing us, the skater is a right-handed shot. Who could it be, who's your pick?

We will keep you up to date with the full reveal, as soon as we get our hands on some new information tomorrow.

I_Eki_I finished #1 in the NHL GWC European Regional Finals and took home the $5,000 and a ticket to the Finals in Vegas (twitch.tv/NHL)

Hey NHLGamers,

It's been an exciting weekend, as I was able to experience the European regional finals of the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship on location at the Viasat studios in Stockholm. I'd like to start by thanking @Kane for making me his +1 and thus granting me access to the event - much appreciated!

As we mentioned in an earlier news story, all of the eight players that made it to the European finals are a part of our NHLGamer community and it was really nice to get to meet everyone.

The eight players made their way into the European finals through the four qualification tournaments:

• @Hansulinho (Xbox Live: Hansulinho) - EU XBOX #1 bracket winner
• @plee999 (Xbox Live: PleeMaker) - EU XBOX #1 bracket runner-up
   
• @Erkki (PSN: I_Eki_I) - EU PS4 #1 bracket winner
• @FlyerKungen (PSN: FlyerKungen) - EU PS4 #1 bracket runner-up
   
• @Kane (Xbox Live: Kaneyh) - EU XBOX #2 bracket winner
• @Nieppii (Xbox Live: Nieppi) - EU XBOX #2 bracket runner-up
   
• @Darkic01 (PSN: Darkic01) - EU PS4 #2 bracket winner
• @Artuzio (PSN: Artuzio) - EU PS4 #2 bracket runner-up

The European finals were played using double elimination rules, meaning that losing one time puts you in the lower bracket and two losses means you're out. If you were to reach the final without any loses, that would put you one win away from winning the regional finals and $5,000, whereas reaching the finals through the lower bracket would require you to win two games in a row in the final round. 

The stakes for the games played on Sunday were high, and come June 19th, there's a lot of money on the line! (twitch.tv/NHL)

The EU Finalists arrived in Stockholm on Saturday morning and for some players, such as PleeMaker, that meant getting up at 3 AM, as he had to fly out to Helsinki first. The day was spent at the Viasat studios, where the players got accustomed to the environment, were interviewed by the broadcast team, got photos taken etc. The day ended at around 8 PM and the players tried to get enough sleep for what would certainly be one of their biggest days in their NHL gaming careers. 

On Sunday morning it was off to the studio around 6:30 AM and after some breakfast, warmups and photoshoots it was time to play. The games were played in two rooms: The main stage and upstairs on a smaller stage. The best place to watch the games were outside the main stage room in the couch area and that's where most players and guests would spend their time between games. There were also some friendly games played in the warmup area.

I made a small travel/behind the scenes video from the trip and it also features interviews of the two winners this weekend, be sure to check it out and give it a thumbs up if you enjoy it. 

At the end of the day, two players came out on top and met each other in the EU Regional Finals. I_Eki_I won the very first game of the day against Artuzio 7-2 and would only need one win to come out on top. The final game between these two was not at all as lopsided as the first game of the day, but I_Eki_I managed to keep his edge, taking home the $5,000 by a score of 2-1.

The two players to make it into the World Finals: I_Eki_I and Artuzio, being interviewed by Andrea Helfrich (twitch.tv/NHL)

Overall, it was really nice to be able to be on set for such an amazing event and I hope the broadcasts catch as big of an audience as possible and we'll see more of this (and hopefully 6vs6) in the future. A big thank you to all of the players and their friends and family members that I met during the weekend. It was also nice to get to meet the broadcast team of Andrew Telfer (TheNasher61), Arda Öcal, Frankie Ward and Andrea Helfrich, who all did an amazing job to bring the games alive. Not only are they professionals and good at what they do - they're also very friendly and approachable.

The results of European Finals (twitch.tv/NHL)

So there you have it. All of these eight gamers put on a great show and we should applaud them all for making it as far as they did. After this weekend, there could only be two remaining and NHLGamer would like to congratulate this weekends winner I_Eki_I and runner-up Artuzio for their success and wish them the best of luck in Las Vegas on the 19th of June in the World Finals!
 

If you haven't already watched the official stream, you can watch it below via the NHL's official Twitch channel:

You've played NHL 18, but never like this.

This spring, the National Hockey League is organising the biggest EA Sports NHL-based tournament yet with the 2018 NHL Gaming World Championship. The tournament is a versus competition, where the very top players of the world are going head-to-head first in regional qualifiers and finals, ending up with the top 6 players in the world battling it out at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada for the title of 2018 NHL Gaming World Champion. To make it even more exciting, the stakes of this tournament will be significantly greater than ever before in NHL gaming as the top 6 competitors will be fighting over a $100,000 prize pool. This is surely a massive announcement for all us NHLGamers as the tournament has so many major players involved. Some of the games will be broadcast on Viasat, Sportsnet and NBC digital channels as well as the NHL's official Twitch-channel. Details are still to be announced regarding the broadcasts, but a major boost in visibility for the NHL gaming community is expected.

To qualify, you have to enter an online regional tournament for your console. Qualifiers are held each Saturday from March 24th thru April 14th. Each regional qualifier will determine two top players who will advance to the regional finals. The eight European finalists will compete at the Viasat Studios in Stockholm, Sweden; the eight Canadian Regional finalists will compete at Sportsnet Studios in Toronto, Ontario; and the eight US Regional finalists will compete at NBC Studios in Stamford, Connecticut.

Check out the official video here, brought to you by NHL.com:

You can see the full schedule for the tournament below:

March 9th  Registration opens at Faceit.com
March 24th-25th  Online qualifiers (Xbox One)
March 31st-April 1st  Online qualifiers (PS4)
April 7th-8th  Online qualifiers (Xbox One)
April 14th-15th Online qualifiers (PS4)
May 6th  European Regional Finals (Stockholm, Sweden)
May 11th Canadian Regional Finals (Toronto, Ontario)
May 20th  US Regional Finals (Stamford, Connecticut)
June 19th  World Finals (Las Vegas, Nevada)
June 20th  NHL Awards (Las Vegas, Nevada)

In order to be eligible for the tournament you need to be a legal resident of the US, Canada or EU. You also need to be 16 years of age or older.
 

So, what do you guys think? Will you be signing up?

The thing that's for sure is that history is in the making and this is a tremendously positive thing for our community. Keep your heads up for more amazing news alike!

Source: NHL.com

Well, well, well...

There's been lots of talk about how the NHL series lacks the "Weekend League" game mode the FIFA series is blessed with. As of today, your prayers appears to have been answered with the brand-new introduction of HUT Champions. HUT Champions will be a high-stakes, high-rewards mode for those looking to play HUT on a whole different competitive level. 

What?

HUT Champions is the NHL equivalent of FIFA Weekend League. It is esentially a "hardcore mode", where you play the best opponents in a tight timeframe. The objective is to accumulate as many wins as possible within the given time frame and restrictions. Wins earn the player points which in turn will lead to higher rankings. Rewards are given at the end of the season based on the leaderboard standings.

When?

The first season of HUT Champions will go live today, February 16th at 2:00 PM PT. The week will hold three qualifiers on February 16th, 20th and 22nd. The champions weekend itself will take place on February 23rd 2:00 PM PT until February 25th 2:00 PM PT. Results will be processed by February 27th.

How?

Qualification for this special league requires possessing a HUT Champions Season 1 Qualification Collectible, which can be obtained by earning a Div 1 title in online seasons between Friday February 16 2:00 PM PT and Friday February 23 2:00 PM PT. The other option is placing within the top 1250 in one of the HUT Champions Season 1 Qualifiers. 

Rewards

• Rank 1: 99 OVR Pavel Bure, 5 Ultimate Packs, 250,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Rank 2: 98 OVR Pavel Bure, 5 Ultimate Packs, 200,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Rank 3: 97 OVR Pavel Bure, 5 Ultimate Packs, 150,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Rank 4: 96 OVR Pavel Bure, 5 Ultimate Packs, 100,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Rank 5: 96 OVR Pavel Bure, 5 Ultimate Packs, 50,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 6-10: Choice Pack with a choice of 2 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 4 Ultimate Packs, 25,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 11-20: Choice Pack with a choice of 2 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 3 Ultimate Packs, 25,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 21-50: Choice Pack with a choice of 1 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 2 Ultimate Packs, 1 Rare Players Plus Pack, 25,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 51-100: Choice Pack with a choice of 1 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 2 Ultimate Packs, 25,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 101-250: Choice Pack with a choice of 1 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 1 Ultimate Pack, 25,000 Coins, Qualification Collectible for HUT Champions Season 2
• Ranks 251-500: Choice Pack with a choice of 1 of 10 Random 90+ EVO Players, 1 Ultimate Pack
• Ranks 501+: 1 Ultimate Pack

HUT has been the topic of some controversy this year in regards to the card market and such, but this is certainly a welcome addition. HUT Champions adds a new level of competitiveness to the game. It remains to be seen how the mode will be welcomed in the NHL community. On the FIFA side of things, Eurogamer.net have previously reported on the brutality of the Weekend League, as players were grinding out 40 games a weekend, meaning closer to 20 hours of gameplay in a single weekend. In HUT Champions, the minimum amount of games to receive a rank is 5, which is a relief, for those familiar with the 20 game minimum in FIFA. The maximum will be 40, just like in the FIFA Weekend League.

The first qualification round is only a few hours away at the moment of writing this. What do you think about this new way to play HUT? Will you be participating? Let us know in the comments below.

Hey NHLGamers,

When you start your game today, you might notice that there's a new patch. There isn't that much information about it, just the note "General stability and bug improvements". What could this mean?

Well, we can simply speculate at this point, but there are a couple annoying things that have been happening in the game lately:

• At times, the game would get stuck in a weird camera angle with the frame being stuck, while you can only hear the game audio:

• Quite often, during an online game the game would jump back to an earlier faceoff, sometimes resulting in the loss of an already scored goal.
   

We certainly hope the above two have been fixed with this patch and that we won't suffer from these problems again.

According to the buzz in several Facebook groups at the moment, the so called "slider glitch" has been fixed now, so you're not able to make the HUT challenges super easy anymore.

How are you finding the patch? Are the above mentioned things gone? Let us know in the comments below.

Below you can find the Patch 2 notes and in case you missed it earlier, the notes about what Gameplay Tuner 1.01 actually did:

Quote

 

NHL 18 Patch 2 - (Available October 3rd, 2017)

General stability and bug improvements

NHL 18 Gameplay Tuner 1.01 - (Available September 27, 2017)

All Modes

• Tuned ability to go in and out of the pass block state so that it behaves more realistic
• Tuned puck elasticity to get more realistic reactions when it hits the ice.
• Tuned deking success rates by deke
• Decreased top end skating ability for players skating with defensive stick held out

Online Only

• Tuned down chance of auto fights post whistle
• Turned off ability for net to come off in online gameplay
• Tuned cases to fix issues where goalies were getting punished for skating to the bench on delayed penalties

 

Source: https://forums.ea.com/en/nhl/discussion/146691/nhl-18-patch-tuner-notes#latest

Hey NHLGamers,

EA SPORTS has released the first content update (also known as patch) for NHL 18 and the list of improvements is quite extensive! The list of improvements is very versatile and includes both small tuning and larger pieces, ranging from camera fixes to adding the new leagues (EBEL, HockeyAllsvenskan and the CHL) to the  Season mode. There's also been quite a lot of tweaking to the online experience and from this patch forward there is no longer a 1 minute grace period in HUT (oh boy, could I have used this patch yesterday)! We have yet to confirm exactly what it looks like, but according to the notes we can now see more information about the opponent (including connection quality) before the game starts.

You can see the full list of updates (including also the updates between the beta and the released game) below:

Quote

 

CONTENT UPDATE 1 - (Available Sept. 19th, 2017)

General

• Added option for Champions League Aggregate Scoring
• Improved faceoff formations during 3 on 3 play.

NHL® THREES

• Added updates to prevent players from moving before they were visible on screen after play resumes from a stoppage in NHL® THREES
• Added ability to change team strategies in NHL® THREES gameplay
• Updates to faceoff camera timing in NHL® THREES

Puck Physics

• Updates to improve stick on puck collisions during poke checks
• More accurate stick on puck physics volume collisions during Defensive Skill Stick.

Offensive and Defensive AI

• Improved AI puck carriers in 1-on-0 situations during play and in shootouts
• Updates to Defensive AI decision making so that they stay with their check more consistently
• Updates for AI teammates that would skate into shooting lanes instead of standing in better positions to deflect the shot or get the rebound instead.
• Updates to AI shooting logic during penalty shots.
• Logic updates for AI goalie pull situations.
• Improved shot logic for the AI
• Improved positioning for offensive AI players away from the puck so that they take their stick position/handedness into account more and position themselves and adjust their facing better based on their intention.
• Added improvements for AI skaters that would switch to skating backwards during breakouts.

Coaching Feedback/On Ice Trainer

• Added new videos and Training to Hockey Canada Training Camp
• Support added for button dekes in coaching feedback and Hockey Canada Training Camp
   

Offense

• Added the ability to blend back into skating faster out of deking
• Various shot animation improvements
• Added improvements to skaters that were missing the puck too often if they were directed to perform a shot without picking up the puck first (one timers and shots from loose pucks).

Defense

• Updates to improve animation blend issues out of shot blocks.
• Improvements added for players doing a board pinch when the puck position didn't make sense for it.
• Blending improvements when transitioning into defensive skill stick.
• Updates to allow the Defensive Skill Stick state to override hit intent if the hit hasn't started to be thrown yet. This allows players to be on and off RB/R1 without letting go of the right stick.
• Updates to improve an issue where the Defensive Skill Stick state caused user skaters to lose pickup functionality
• Added in variance of error to the new poke check system based on player control, direction from the players facing and relative speed of the puck. This means that a player is most accurate when skating in a controlled manner and poking a still puck in front of themselves and least accurate when poking against their momentum behind themselves at a fast-moving puck. Each of these factors are also tied to the player's attribute ratings.
• Improved hip check controls to prevent clashes
• Poke check animation assets improved for increased poke checking accuracy before any error is added.
• Added reaction delay based on a player’s awareness after a puck is deflected off a stick/body as players were reacting too quickly to defensive deflections.

Goalies

• Better precision when detecting puck position during saves for User goalies.
• Responsiveness updates to User goalie butterfly motion.
• Added updates to help User goalies challenging shots and tracking the puck. If a user is requesting to move towards the puck, allow the requested motion to transfer into the upcoming save but if the shot is back against the grain, it will not add in momentum to the save.
• Updated save logic to reduce issues that were causing the user goalie to make save attempts on pucks that were far from the net.
• Improved responsiveness for actions after quickly switching into control of the goalie
• Added updates to prevent goalies from knocking their net off in EASHL as an exploit.
• Added the ability for flinching saves to abort sooner when the puck is deflected away from the net.
• Improved responsiveness when blending in and out of saves for goalies.
• Added new VH poke coverage.
• Added logic to read how much the goalie should lean based on the puck position as they slide into butterfly leans. This allows for better blends and ability to seal off more of the net on the side where the puck is.
• Various animation improvements for saves where a goalie’s limbs were clipping with each other.
• Updates to prevent an issue where a user goalie was unable to move post-to-post after a poke check.
• Updated some saves that were causing the puck to deflect into a goalie's net.

Hockey Canada Training Camp

• Improved end of game flow to allow users to pick next training item.
• Added the option to select training item from pause.
• Added the ability to play videos from Training Camp pause screen

HUT

• Added an auto-fill option in Edit Lines. This option will allow a user to automatically replace all the players in their lineup based on player overall and position.
• The end of round Competitive Seasons reward screen will now show in the HUT HUB rather than the user needing to enter the season to claim their rewards.
• Removed the 1-minute grace period for offline and online games. Game will now count right at puck drop

Online

• Improved Online Coop Matchup Load Screen to allows users to see more information about their teammates/opponents for team composition and latency for all online game modes (e.g., Online Vs., HUT, Threes Online, etc.) except for EASHL
• Adding Team Overall to matchmaking rules to all online game modes (e.g., Online Vs., HUT, Threes Online, etc.) except for EASHL
• PS4 controller light will now match the Game Setup and gameplay player color indicator
• Updated the Game Setup screen functionalities in online game types (e.g., HUT, Online Vs. Threes Online, etc.)
• Display Offense, Defense and Goalie ratings by default
• Remapped the Ready button to tile option
• Remapped the Settings tile to a button
• Resolved an issue where users would crash when performing goalie swaps in the intermission pause menu for HUT, Draft Champions, and Online Vs.

EASHL

• Added the ability to award a penalty shot in EASHL 3s rather than go on a 4-on-3 or 5-on-3 Power Play.
• Fighting turned off in EASHL 3s.
• 3-on-3 strategies added to EASHL.

Game Modes

• Added Season Modes for additional leagues (EBEL, HockeyAllsvenskan, and the Champions Hockey League Tournament)
• Added Division Re-Alignment to Franchise Mode. This allows the user to move teams around within the divisions before the start of a Franchise Mode.
• Added the ability to allow the user to edit their custom or relocated team’s jersey and mascot during the offseason in Franchise
• Added the ability to see all the CPU lines in View Lines
• Added the ability to allow a user to change strategies in 3-on-3 Overtime
• Added the ability to view all the pending free agents in the upcoming FA class as well as 2 and 3 years out in the Pending FA Screen.
• Added a “Sim to Regular Season” option in quick links during the preseason
• Added the option to view player information on the offer sheet pop-up
• Added the option to decline a trade and change your trade block in a CPU trade offer
• Added option to switch teams while in the trade screen in the player select pop-up
• Improved FA logic where Team Chemistry is still taken into consideration deep into Free Agency when they should be willing to lessen demands.
• Improvements added to correctly apply stats growth to a player who received stat growth the previous year.
• Added updates to help resolve an issue with Scouting showing semi-accurate potentials of players that should be Unknown potentials.
• Improvements added to prevent the morale of a player being set to “angry” immediately after signing in Free Agency.

Audio

• Added in Birthday goal calls in EASHL
• Added in various speech improvements

Presentation

• Added in the EBEL Championship Sequence with trophy
• Added in the Champions Hockey League Championship sequence with trophy
• Added in a Champions Hockey League mode unique wipe
• Various camera improvements for environment geometry blocking play

Art

• Added Away uniform for Ottawa Senators
• Added Away uniform for Toronto Maple Leafs
• Added Away uniforms Nashville Predators
• Added CCM Premier 2 Goalie Pad Set
• Improved Portland Winterhawks Uniform

Hockey Canada and Training Camp Videos

• Added 4 New Button Deke videos
• Added better shot quality changes, better shots and sizzles for 8 Hybrid & 94 Controls videos
• Updated the audio from Ray Ferraro in 3 Skill Stick videos (Shot Aim, Faceoff Draw, Faceoff Tie-Up)
• Added/Improved 8 Hockey Canada Rules Videos:
  • Offside - Shot Improvement
  • Icing
  • High Sticking
  • Delay of Game
  • Tripping
  • Interference
  • Penalty Shot
  • Goalie Delay of Game
• Added 5 Hockey Canada Goalie Videos
  • T-Push vs. Strafe
  • Angles vs. Positions
  • Butterfly
  • Butterfly Slides
  • Hug Post

 

GAMEPLAY UPDATES FROM BETA TO FINAL (On-Disc)

Below are the changes made to NHL 18 from the Beta in time for final.

Presentation

• Gameplay and Presentation camera improvements in various arenas.
• Fixed issue where 'hold to skip' was not working when 2 controllers are plugged in but 1 was not assigned.
• Added time to save replays so that the action could be seen better in the replay.
• Various camera fixes across multiple stadiums to avoid clipping

General

• Improvements added for 3 on 3 Faceoff formations
• Fixes to ice time calculations

Puck Physics

• Improvements added to prevent cases where the puck could go through the boards
• Various improvements added to puck and stick collisions

Passing

• Pass assistance tuning.
   

Offensive and Defensive AI

• Lots of AI Player avoidance updates. Players should collide less often with their own goalie, their teammates and opponents. Players will avoid more intelligently as well, choosing a direction around the other player that keeps up their speed and keeps them on course for their desired destination. They will also wait to veer until they have to, rather than steering far wide of a potential collision too early.
• Tuned down AI defensive skill stick ability on lower difficulties.
• Balance improvements to ai difficulty in Threes
• Tuning of ai puck carrier intentions based on deke rating and player traits
• Fix case in breakout neutral zone where ai player would skate backwards at times when they should be skating forwards.
• Updates to pass error for CPU players to make them behave more realistically.
• Updated AI boardplay logic
• Passing analysis tuning for AI
  • Improved AI lane change evaluation for saucer passes.
  • Updates to AI logic for passing near the net
  • Updated AI bank pass logic

Coaching Feedback/On Ice Trainer

• Fixed Between the legs pass and Stride Deke hints for hybrid controls
• Faceoff tie up is now supported for 94 controls by coaching feedback.
• Various coaching feedback and training improvements
• Fixed control hint for hybrid stick tie-up
• Fix for shot target showing up away from the net on untargeted one-timers

Offense

• Tuning for result of forehand flip deke to match players incoming velocity and movement better.

Defense

• Tuned defensive players reaction time so that they can more quickly acquire a puck they stop/deflect themselves.
• Fixed an issue where Throw hit was acting too early by improving the calculations of both players velocities over time.
• Fixed an issue where a pokecheck would target too far ahead where the puck was going and not realizing it should go towards the upcoming puck reception location to disrupt the reception.
• Updates to checking logic for more consistent results
• Defensive skill stick pokecheck targeting fixes.
• Update poke check assets and added lean to poke checks to blend better with various skating poses.

Goalies

• Simplified goalie facing angle calculation so that he can blend to face the puck much earlier.
• Improved calculation of goalie motion with respect to saving. This makes solving saves during goalie motion much more accurate.
• Various fixes to saves where pads weren't flush enough with the ice.
• Fixes to animations where goalie's glove and blocker were coming up during butterfly slides.

Penalties

• Added additional logic for more accurate calling of goalie interference.

 

Overall, looking at the list it feels like a lot of my complaints have been addressed. What about you? How do you like the update? What would you like to see in the future updates? Please let us know in the comments.

I'll see you on the ice!

Source: https://forums.ea.com/en/nhl/discussion/146691/nhl-18-patch-tuner-notes

Evening NHLGamers,

Yesterday (September 5th) turned out to be a big day for fans of the game mode Hockey Ultimate Team, HUT. As one of the core game modes in EA SPORTS' series of NHL games, HUT usually draws a heavy interest from fans in the weeks leading up to release. 

What then could be better than suddenly finding out who all the new "HUT Heroes" are for NHL 18? Maybe getting to experience over 15 minutes of exclusive gameplay from the new edition of HUT?

Here at NHLGamer we say: why not both? 

Before we get to the gameplay, lets start off with the announcement of all the new HUT Heroes. Yesterday, EA SPORTS released this article presenting all 30 NHL 18 HUT Heroes: https://www.easports.com/nhl/hockey-ultimate-team/hut-heroes

To break it down for us and provide a proper NHLGamer analysis, we enlisted one of our resident HUT experts and hardcore gamers: @esdor . Take it away Adam!

NHL 18 HUT Heroes - Analysis

Gamers, 

I have been asked to give you my thoughts on the new HUT Heroes for NHL 18 so, here we go! 

In total there are seven new HUT Heroes that differ from the roster we had in NHL 17. As a first impression, I must say that I was hoping for a few more new Heroes. Three of the "new" ones were actually already in the game for 17 but only obtainable from packs as "legends". These players are Cam Neely (Boston), Jeremy Roenick (Chicago) and Wendel Clark (Toronto).

Personally, the card I am looking forward the most to trying in the new game is new San Jose Sharks hero Owen Nolan. Those who have seen me play HUT know that I am a big fan of strong righties in the vein of Ovechkin.

Sadly this means the previous hero from San Jose (Doug Wilson) is out. He will be sorely missed seeing as he was one of my favorite defenders that I used all year in 17. Another missed hero for me is going to be Red Wings hero Brendan Shanahan that I used a lot in the begining of NHL 17.

It will be very interesting to see how good Rick Nash (Columbus) will be as a HUT Hero. The last two HUT Heroes that are new this year are Shane Doan (Arizona) and Tampa Bay defender Dan Boyle.

In the start of the game I believe that the Heroes will be very effective cards even though their overall got reduced from 94 to 90. I would actually say that a few of the new Heroes will be used the entire game, like in NHL 17 with Heroes Ron Hextall and Olaf Kolzig. In my opinion, both those goalies were among the best goalies in HUT throughout NHL 17 and might continue to be in 18.

Last but not least I want to really praise EA for the design on the cards in HUT, they have done a great job on making the new cards look fresh and exciting.

Exclusive NHL 18 HUT Gameplay Footage

Lets pick this up by thanking esdor for an excellent breakdown of all the new HUT Heroes. When he is not contributing content for NHLGamer, you can find him at https://www.twitch.tv/esdor.

Finally, as I hinted at in the beginning of this article, yesterday also saw the release of over 15 minutes of exclusive HUT gameplay footage on the NHLGamer YouTube Channel. This content was captured during NHLGamers recent visit to the NHL 18 Producers Tour in Helsinki and was then edited and produced by our very own @Kenu - just like the NHLGamer On The Road video from Helsinki. 

It is with great pride and joy we can say that this video has been watched almost 5.000 times since it was released less than 24 hours ago.

Wow!

Without further ado, here it is: 

That is all for now. Until next time, later skaters.
 

@The_Alpha_Furyan, @Kenu and @esdor for NHLGamer.com

Hey NHL Gamers!

Last week we had the privilege of visiting the EA office here in Helsinki to play NHL 18 and talk to Clement Kwong and Evan Dexter from the NHL 18 team. Sean Ramjagsingh (aka Rammer) was supposed to be there, but he had to cancel the Nordic visits on short notice. We had a great time talking to Clement and Evan nevertheless and we captured it in the below video. Thank you for submitting your questions - there was very limited time for the interview itself, so we couldn't fit everything in there, but we really appreciate all of the submissions!

Besides yours truly, there were a bunch of other NHL Gamer members at the event: @Dominointi (staff), @Hansulinho and @Rapsu (maybe others - let us know in the comments!) can also be seen appearing in this video. Always a blast to hang out with fellow NHL gamers!

Hope you enjoyed the video as much as we did enjoy making it! As you can maybe guess from the ending, there is a giveaway coming. More about that in the near future!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out @esdor's article from Stockholm:

Until next time!

Hey NHL Gamers!

On Monday, the 28th of August, EA SPORTS hosted a press event in Stockholm ahead of the release of NHL 18. NHLGamer was invited to this event and this time I got the opportunity to keep you guys updated on everything that happened. Regular staff member @The_Alpha_Furyan also attended the event, however this time in his role as eSports ambassador for the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Among the guests we also saw other NHLGamer members, such as "Synergy Hockey" defenseman @Supremski, "Unknown" defensemen @Pontus T (aka "Terasniska") and "Lavetten" forward and captain @Zalaz as well as many other top players from the Swedish community and plenty of journalists.

The day started off with an introduction to new game features by EA SPORTS NHL producers Clement Kwong and Evan Dexter, before it was time to get some hands-on experience ourselves. What we got to see was an impressive gaming lounge setup with a total of 12 PlayStation 4 consoles, six on each side, all running a final build of NHL 18. Imagine playing the 6 vs. 6 ECL Elite finals in here? That honestly sounds like a dream come true. One of my personal highlights of the day was playing the new THREES game mode, when Clement and Evan also decided to jump in on the action - it was so much fun!

We also used the opportunity to talk to Clement Kwong and Evan Dexter for a short interview, addressing some of the questions and feedback that were submitted to NHLGamer via the website and social media channels. We will also release a second interview from the event which took place in Helsinki the day after shortly, so make sure you stay tuned for that as well! Here's what we have been talking about:

Q: You have lowered the overall player ratings in Versus for NHL18. What about Hockey Ultimate Team? Towards the end of a game's life cycle, we usually got a lot of players with a 99 rating. Will we see a similar result at the end of NHL 18, or will the best players be rated lower there as well?

A: We haven't released all of the HUT ratings yet, only a few ones. In terms of player items and ratings it will work pretty much similar to last year's game from launch onwards, e.g. when it comes to valuable card types like Movember and Team Of The Year. Though we do understand that people think there are too many 99 rated player items in the game, the reality is there aren't that many. They are meant for the elite tier of players that can either buy them from the auction house or obtain them from playing plenty of games, so not a lot of players can actually get their hands on a card like that. When you take a step back and look at the impact of lowering some of the overall ratings, you will find greater separation between low-tier and mid-tier players. Compared to this, higher tier players do not make as much of a difference.

Q: A controversial topic for us NHLGamers lately has been spamming the L1 button instead of using poke checks or hits to create takeaways. Are you aware of this technique and are you planning to do anything about it?

A: That is where the defensive skillstick is a big gamechanger, because you can start angling people off and extend your stick or sweep it to cover passing and shooting lanes. Hopefully what that will do is add another toolset to properly defend instead of spamming shotblock (L1). One of the biggest reasons that you see this spam is the limited defensive toolset in previous games: You could poke check, shotblock or dive shotblock. The goal with the defensive skillstick is to be able to have independent control of your stick from your lower and upper body separation, so if you have stronger fidelity in terms of being able to guide an attacker in one direction while also not leaving an open lane because now you can actually control your stick, then I think you probably will see less of the shotblock spam just because the toolset now is wider. That is the goal at least.

Q: Did you consider adding additional counter-measures to this technique, such as a one second cooldown for the L1 animation?

A: We have not considered it at this time but we will see if there is any community-based feedback in this matter when we launch the game. I think it will be too heavy-handed to make all shot block attempts having a one second cooldown. Point being, we will take a look at all gameplay feedback we can get.

(Don't worry, we still talked to them about the L1-spam in Helsinki the day after.)

Q: Personally, I have been affected quite a bit by players "de-syncing", also known as "looping" Hockey Ultimate Team games, so they are quit without showing up on any leaderboards. Are you aware of this issue and how does the team deal with these cheaters?

A: One of the things we even have done this year is really ramp up the security effort. Obviously having game live service is very important for us, and as a part of that we have been monitoring Competitive Seasons cheating. We actually have a team that has been enforcing measures like sending reminders and handing out temporary bans, just to name a few examples. I think it has provided a healthier Competitive Seasons experience for all our players, and in NHL 18 that will continue to be our focus.

Q: You added a couple new leagues to NHL 18. How does the process of adding European leagues generally work? Does the dev team usually take the first steps, or is it the league's representatives that are looking for ways to be part of the game?

A: Every year we are looking into new partners and new leagues to add to the game. A big part of it is obviously the authenticity of the sport, as there are many hockey leagues in the world, not only the ones in North America. Staying authentic to the sport is a very important consideration for us. We are also listening to what content our core fans want and what leagues they want to see in the game. It's more of a partnership with us and the league than them coming to us or we coming to them. Good example of that is Champions Hockey League this year. We are very exited to have all the licenses for all these team ready, in order for us to support a new tournament that people are watching across Europe. Having CHL in the game is a big opportunity for us. There are a lot of community requests that we have to evaluate in terms of what our fans want the most and in terms of which opportunities for new partnerships we have. We try to add new experiences and new leagues to play with every year. Luckily this time we got HockeyAllsvenskan and Champions Hockey League.

Q: How did you come up with the idea of adding a 3 vs. 3 arcade mode with NHL THREES?

A: One of the things we looked at early on was research of what our players want. Not only what they think about our game, but also what they think about hockey as a sport in general. When we asked our players about their most memorable video game experiences, they talked about things like NHL 94, NFL Street or NBA Jam. Those types of games were easy to pick up and to play with your friends. Those are the kind of experiences that people still talk about. Some of the guys in our development team still play games like the ones I just mentioned. Combining our goal of bringing new experiences as well as understanding how our players approach sports video games is the way we came up with adding NHL THREES.

Q: Can you talk about the new HUT Challenges feature in Hockey Ultimate Team? Will they be an integral part of the game mode's experience?

A: I believe the challenges will be a big thing in HUT this year. In NHL 17, we started to introduce post launch features, and combining that with sets everything is now themed from a week to week basis. HUT challenges just adds another layer and dimension to that so a lot of the rewards you will see coming out of the challenges will help you to complete sets. HUT as it is right now is very geared towards online competition, so having challenges come in gives fans that like to play HUT but don't necessarily want to play in an online competitive arena more ways to engange with that mode and allows them to be able to enjoy the dynamic content throughout the year outside of a competitive environment.

Q: A lot of fans playing the game want to see the return of GM Connected. What is the reason it did not make its way into NHL 18?

A: We get that question a lot. It's funny, because when we had that mode in the game it was not a very commonly played mode. Since it got removed from the game we have had lots of requests of bringing it back into the game so it's something we talk about pretty heavily every year. It has never been off our table completely. We still look at it, but we always want to prioritize what we think is best for the development of the game. We will take it sort of year by year to continue looking at it. For NHL 18, our focus was on 3 vs. 3 and to bring more of the new NHL into the game. Talking to different fans, obviously one part is managing a virtual league with your teams. But another big part is actually the social piece like we have in EASHL. So this year we were adding to that with all the 3 vs. 3 modes across the game. In terms of taking the best pieces of GM Connected and what people appreciate, that's where we need to spend more time with research.

Q: What is the EA SPORTS NHL team doing in terms of trying to make the game more attractive as an eSport?

A: FIFA has sort of gone first in terms of what EA wants to achieve in competitive gaming. I think they are trying out really interesting things that our fans are into, like FUT Champions for example. It has been really successful and the fans are really enjoying it, so I think from our perspective we are trying to learn from FIFA as in how to apply it to NHL in a way that fits the product. There are different directions that we could take. We could look into it as an EASHL team based experience or 1 vs. 1 HUT based experience, and I think we need to figure out which direction is right for this franchise. We need to evaluate how FIFA and other franchises are doing before we pick a direction.

Q: After FIFA, Madden NFL has been adopting the Frostbite engine this year. Why has NHL not made the switch yet?

A: The answer to that question is very similar to the eSport question. Frostbite is something that we will look at in FIFA and Madden to learn from, also keeping community feedback in mind. We will continue to evaluate the engine and when it makes sense we will figure out what it actually would mean to the NHL franchise. Is it just better graphics? Or is it enabling us to make brand new experiences in both offline and online modes? We need to figure out where we want to take it.

Q: What is the reason you allow players to lock their position in 1 vs. 1 modes such as Hockey Ultimate Team?

A: We want players to be able to play the game the way they want, and a lot of people do enjoy the player locked experience. In terms of the way it affects the overall balance of competitive gaming: For more casual games it's OK to position lock, but not for Competitive Season games - that is where we have seen feedback indicating it's not the best solution. It's something the team and I have started to talk about and we will look at it this year.

That's it, we hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for the second interview which will be released on our YouTube channel.

@esdor for NHLGamer.com

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With only two weeks until the launch of NHL 18 and fans eagerly curious for details surrounding the game, let us recap some recently announced good news for the fans of European Hockey.

EA SPORTS decided to blow up the doors with first introducing that the Champions Hockey League will be in the game. Shortly after that, it was announced that HockeyAllsvenskan and the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga also will be included. In case you’re wondering what the CHL is, we’d describe the Champions Hockey League as a tournament where the top teams of Europe play against each other in a fashion that we are used to in the football scene. Although it’s still not followed even remotely in the same magnitude as on the football side, we can hope the interest towards this league grows on the hockey side as well.

The including of HockeyAllsvenskan was a really exciting thing especially for Swedish NHL-gamers as they can once again play the famous Stockholm Derby, Djurgården vs AIK with friends. Or why not give Leksand another chance in the famous Daladerby and face off against their bitter rivals, the team that knocked them down from the SHL: Mora IK. 

The press releases didn’t specify whether these leagues are actually included in the game as full playable seasons with schedules, or if they are mainly to be used in individual games or replacement teams in the franchise mode, as we’ve seen done before. At this stage we can only speculate, but whatever the approach is, we welcome these new teams to the game with open arms!

The features of HockeyAllsvenskan might add something to the mix in the ECL scene as well; It has been rumoured that the ECL Elite team Synergy might reveal a Björklöven jersey

Anticipation is rising as the first official #EBEL trailer for @EASPORTSNHL 18 is out there. Game available worldwide on 15/09/17 #WeAreEBEL pic.twitter.com/T0uSaBmLKX

— erstebankliga (@erstebankliga) 16. elokuuta 2017

What do you think about the inclusion of these leagues? Will you play with this teams, or perhaps just use their jerseys for HUT or EASHL? Let us know in the comments below.

-chavelski

Hey NHL Gamers,

today the NHL 18 achievement list on Xbox One, which usually matches the trophy list on PlayStation 4, was revealed. As usual, it is a mix between requirements from the past few years and some aspects from new game modes, such as NHL Threes. Take a look at the entire list below:

Someone Get That Kid The Puck!
Play and score your 1st NHL goal in a regular season game in Be a Pro.
Bronze/15

That’s Number 50!
Play and score your 50th NHL goal in a single season as a rookie in Be a Pro Mode.
Bronze/15

Win it for Dale
Win the Stanley Cup® in Be A Pro mode.
Bronze/15

Goose Egg
Play an entire game and have your 1st shutout in a regular season game in Be a Pro.
Bronze/15

Drafted
Have your Be a Pro player drafted in Be a Pro mode while playing an entire season in the CHL.
Bronze/15

Practice Makes Perfect
Complete all training camp drills.
Bronze/15

Knighted
Win the Stanley Cup as the Vegas Golden Knights after doing an expansion draft in Franchise Mode.
Bronze/15

Cup Champs
Win the Stanley Cup as the 32nd NHL team after doing an expansion draft in Franchise Mode.
Silver/30

Bobble Head Star
Score the hat trick goal with a player on their Bobble Head night in Franchise Mode.
Bronze/15

Developer
Have a player that you drafted grow to 90+ overall in Franchise Mode.
Bronze/15

3 Star Performance
Complete and win a NHL Three's Circuit Game with 3 Stars.
Bronze/15

King of the Pacific
Defeat the final boss of the Pacific Circuit in NHL® Threes.
Bronze/15

Cooperative
Complete and win an Online Co-op NHL® Threes Circuit Game.
Bronze/15

Star Collector
Collect all the stars in a NHL® Threes Circuit.
Silver/30

Circuit King
Win the final circuit trophy for NHL® Threes Mode.
Silver/30

Mascot Sniper
Have a mascot on your team score 5 goals in a single game in a NHL Three's game.
Bronze/15

League Champions
Be a member of an EASHL club that has recently won the League Title and return to the Seasons HUB.
Bronze/15

Conference Champions
Be a member of an EASHL club that has recently won a Division Title and return to the Seasons HUB.
Bronze/15

On A Roll
Be a member of an EASHL club that had a perfect record last season and return to the Seasons HUB.
Bronze/15

Victorious
Be a member of an EASHL club that has recently won a playoff cup and return to the Seasons HUB.
Bronze/15

Triple Threat
Complete 3 EASHL 3 on 3 games.
Bronze/15

Overtime Heroics
In an EASHL club game, score the game-winning overtime goal.
Bronze/15

You'll always remember your first
In an EASHL game, score your first goal as a skater or complete and win your first game as a goalie.
Bronze/15

Veteran Club Members
Be a member of an EASHL club that has reached Level 25.
Bronze/15

How Prestigious
Level up your EASHL pro past Player Level 50.
Silver/30

Flip Biscuit
Score a goal by flipping the puck back against the grain from the backhand toe drag in any mode.
Bronze/15

Extend the Twig
Deflect a shot with the Defensive Skill Stick in any mode.
Bronze/15

Kids a Beauty
Score a goal with a between the legs shot in any mode.
Bronze/15

Not My Bottle!
Knock off the opposing goalie's bottle from the net by scoring a goal.
Silver/30

Manual Sauce
Get an assist from a manual saucer pass in any mode.
Bronze/15

Tee it up
Score a goal with a manual one timer in any mode.
Bronze/15

Own the crease
Have a shutout and win a game as a user-controlled goalie in any mode.
Bronze/15

Costume Party
Score a goal as a Mascot in a NHL® Threes game.
Bronze/15

Tuck me in
Score a goal with a one hand tuck in any mode.
Bronze/15

Apple a Day
Get an assist with a between the legs pass in any mode.
Bronze/15

First Timer
Complete a Hockey Ultimate Team Set for the first time.
Bronze/15

Master!
Complete a Hockey Ultimate Team Master Set.
Gold/90

You've Been Counting Stars
Earn a total 50 Stars in HUT Challenges.
Silver/30

Championship Belt
Recently win the title in a Hockey Ultimate Team Season and return to the Hockey Ultimate Team Hub.
Silver/30

A Little Help From My Friends
Complete a Co-op challenge with a friend.
Bronze/15

You're Crafty
Complete 50 Hockey Ultimate Team Sets.
Gold/100

Buzzer Beater
Complete a limited time Hockey Ultimate Team Set.
Bronze/15

Competitor
Earn a HUT Competitive Seasons reward.
Bronze/15

Synergized
Activate a Synergy Style in Hockey Ultimate Team.
Bronze/15

OP!
Have every player on your active Hockey Ultimate Team Lineup have an active Synergy Style.
Bronze/15

Drafted!
Complete a NHL® Draft Champions Draft.
Bronze/15

All the Way!
Win every game in a NHL® Draft Champions Draft.
Bronze/15

Ultimate Competitor
In HUT Competitive Seasons, earn a ranking within every round of a season.
Silver/30

@gzell60 for NHLGamer.com

Hey NHL Gamers,

It was a good run, but we all knew this day was coming: The NHL 18 Beta has ended and it's time to start waiting for the final product, releasing next month. Should you try accessing any of the modes of the beta, you will be met with the following screen:

While waiting for the full version of the game, we would like to ask you to send us your thoughts on the beta - what did you like and what didn't you? We would also like to see your best video clips! Whether they are cool, incredible, funny, pointing out a bug in the game or just plain stupid - just share them with us!

Here's our small example, recorded by @gzell60, showing off the exploitation of the L1/LB-button, which is especially effective around the boards, doesn't really slow you down when spamming, and doesn't result in penalties:

By submitting our videos and feedback directly to EA SPORTS, we hope to help shape the game the way we - the community - want to see the game develop in the future.

You can choose to discuss in the below thread, or post your thoughts and clips in the comments of this news story - both will be followed closely by our staff.

So without further ado, submit your stuff in the comments section and let's get this thing going!

On behalf of the NHLGamer staff,