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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 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, We have plenty of seasons starting, with IS Cup 3, RCL, ECL and GCL starting up in the coming days, so it's a good time to refresh your knowledge about game reporting! Due to the new World of Chel dressing room mechanic, the EA API doesn't yet contain the stats nor results for private game sessions, so at least for the start of the season, the captains will have to do slightly more manual work. Reporting games isn't difficult at all, but please have a look at the below for a good reminder before the season start in an attempt to clear any misunderstandings. 1) As a captain, you can see the TEAM TOOLS menu. To report a match, simply click ADD MATCH. 2) Next, pick the game you are reporting - remember, by default, the home team reports the team stats. It's good to have screenshots off all stats just in case, though. Click Add stats to add the team stats (for individual stats, see #5) 3) It's time to add the team stats. Quite simple, but pay attention to filling out all of the fields correctly. Note that it asks for amount of penalties, not penalty minutes! When you're happy with it, click Submit. 4) This is a re-cap screen. Please double-check that everything is correct. If you need to fix something, just click back. 5) Here's the part that the teams fill out individually. If you were the home team and reported the team stats, you'll be taken to this screen automatically. If your opponent reported the team stats, see #6 for how to get to this screen. You get the penalty and goal times from the Box Score menu in the game. Do not use the Action Tracker times, as they are reversed. 6) If you're the away team and your opponent reported the team stats, you'll see Add individual stats as an option in the reporting tool. So there you have it. Be patient and everything will go smoothly. Just be sure to take pictures of all of the stats before exiting the game and use the times from the Box Score and not the Action Tracker and you'll be good. Questions? What if the game disconnects? At the time of a disconnect, both teams need to take down all of the stats (take screenshots or photos). After the rest of the game has been played out, stats for both relevant portions of the games need to be merged, to report the whole game on NHLGamer.com. This whole procedure can be repeated multiple times, in case players drop out more than once during one scheduled game. What if the game is reported incorrectly? Contact support Anything else? Ask us 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"

NHLGamer, in co-operation with Ilta-Sanomat, SJK eSports and SEAMK will be organizing the Finnish Championship in NHL 19 and FIFA 19. The sponsors of the tournament named IS Cup 3 are ED and PlayStation. IS Cup 3 includes three tournaments: NHL 19 1vs1, NHL 19 6vs6 and FIFA 19 1vs1. Purchasing an eSM license will grant a player eligibility to participate in all of these tournaments. Please note that participation also requires Finnish citizenship. The total price pool amounts to 15 000 €. The first event of the eSM tournament series will be held in the beginning of November (2.-3.11.) at the GameXpo-exhibition at Messukeskus in Helsinki. The second event will be held at the OmaSp Gaming House in Seinäjoki, after which the final tournament is back over in Helsinki at Kauppakeskus REDI. www.is.fi/cup will be the place to follow the progression of the tournament throughout October, November and December. Three main events The first IS Cup 3 final event will be the NHL 19 6vs6 final at GameXpo on the 3rd of November. At this event, the four top teams from the online qualifiers will be competing for a price of 4500€. The FIFA 19 1vs1 event will be held at the OmaSp Gaming House in Seinäjoki, the event takes place on the 24th of November. Six players will qualify through online qualifiers, and two players will receive invites from the organizers. These players will battle it out for the price of 2500€. The NHL 1vs1 tournament takes the IS Cup back to Helsinki, as 16 players (four invites) will be fighting for a price of 8000€ at Kauppakeskus REDI on the 15th of December. A qualifier tournament will be held on the 2nd of November at GameXpo, the two top players will secure spots in the final. The remaining ten spots will be secured through online qualifiers between 8.-28.11. How to participate The online qualifiers will be organized by NHLGamer. There is no maximum amount of participants in the online qualifiers. As stated, an eSM license and Finnish citizenship will be required to participate. The license costs 5€ and can be bought at http://www.esm.gg/pelaajalisenssi/. One license will grant eligibility to all tournaments and events. Registration takes place at NHLGamer.com. Schedules for the tournament can be viewed at NHLGamer.com. For now, the schedule is an estimate. The final schedule will be confirmed after the registration is closed. For more information on how to sign up, visit www.is.fi/cup. For all of our international members - don't worry, we haven't forgotten about you! Sign up for ECL 7 now and stay tuned for more exciting announcements in the near future!