Welcome to the liftstick and spinorama festival You want to poke from behind get a 2 min. it's understandable But common this is ridiculous. Straight clear poke on the puck give me a break. Guys are gonna say just don't poke well what can I say to that except poking is part of a hockey game. EA just balance things out . P.s It's gonna be a tough one for D's.
I dont really have a problem with it, it also makes playing against the forecheck and breaking out easier on D. There are some awkward plays like cross creases/one timers where you cant poke or you get a trip call or and if you dont poke they get a clean one timer, but the games been out for 3 days, give it a little bit for a meta to iron out before we complain.
It’s either people will bitch about “bumper car hockey” or bitch about “shitters getting rewarded for spamming poke” Personally I think how it stands now, it separates skill level on D a bit better. You really need to know when and when not to poke more often than not. Also, you will be burned if you constantly take runs, so knowing how to throw the body takes a bit more timing as you can’t rely on spamming poke after being burned. Making the ice surface bigger, even something like international ice but still keeping the trapezoids would make a difference and open things up a bit more.