Such an incredibly flawed + broken game... Frustration ensues.
Your team lacks...any form of intelligence...they'll do the dumbest things...
-They get in fights/post-whistle penalties that you dont want...
-They wont forecheck with you even on All-Out-Attack and 20secs left to go in the game...
-On 3 on 1's they'll wait by the blue line or not even come in the zone at all...
-They're usually in your way when you're carrying the puck up (because they're programmed to go from point a-->b and that is all...
-There's tons of glitches *cough* cross crease passes...
-When you get your stick lifted your player does a stupid animation where he slows down a lot and looks all confused... This happens a lot when you're racing towards an open puck, and your opponent lifts your stick before you get to it (not a penalty) and you stop, and he gets to the puck first...
-The hits are often way too light... dont even knock the puck off the guy...
-The hit animation where your player spins around for 5 seconds and can't pick up the puck is dumb and unrealistic...
-The goalies try to make desperation saves when the puck is behind the net...
-Goalie not being able to play the puck off the boards or cover up ridiculous rebounds...
-There's an animation where the goalie will reach behind him an somehow catch unrealistic rebounds...
-Skater doesnt know how to go around a dived opponent and will immediately lose the puck as soon as it touches him...
-Skaters skate right by the puck without picking it up...
-Skaters wont intercept passes that seem to go right through them or within a couple feet of them...
-Goalies are way too good sometimes...
-Players can't "shelf" the puck if they're in a foot from the goalie, they can only lift it on a 20 degree angle (as if it was 1960, and they were playing with 10lb wooden sticks)...
-Players trying to bat the puck into the net is an absolute joke... they usually wont come close to hitting the net...
-One-timer "fails" are awful... If you set up a one timer that goes by your cpu, he will still try to swing at the puck even though it's several meters away...
-Tripping penalties are outrageous... you have very little control over stick checks, and your player pretty much decides if he wants to poke the puck or the opponent's skates (initiating the same dive sequence, regardless of whether the player was standing still or skating)
As you can see, there are a LOT of glitches that should be fixed... i feel like nhl 99 didn't have most of these glitches... It seems as they try and go for more complexity, they're losing a lot of realism with glitches...