Winning in NHL 11's HUT

Winning in HUT has very little to do with superstar snipers and maxed out goaltenders. The beauty of HUT is that you get to make your own team, to tailor it to your style of play.

In NHL 10, I loved the San Jose Sharks because their scoring line (Heatly, Thorton, Marleau) are all left-handed, and I deke and score better with left-handed players.

I also create a lot of my goals by forming passing plays on the rush then driving to the net, as opposed to offensive zone setups. So speed and hands are what's most important to me.

Same with my D-men, I try not to charge after forwards and put on a big check. I play more positional defense and poke-check. Don't need huge guys there either, I'd prefer them to be fast. Furthermore, I don't need a lot of high priced OFD's because I don't do a lot of work from the point.

Bottom line, pick your players based on your play style - not their overall rating.

Stopping Penalty Shots in NHL 11

Crap. The ref didn't like your diving poke-check on that breakaway. Penalty shot time. Panic mode, right? Wrong.

There are only 2 good spots to do a diving poke-check, one is before the blue-line so if you do trip your opponent, worst case is 2 minutes in the sin bin as it doesn't count as a breakaway. The 2nd is right before your attacker shoots.

The second one is what we do most often, and the great thing about penalties is that there's always a replay to go along with them. In the heat of the moment, you're probably not thinking about what side of the net the bastard is dekeing to, but take a breath, compose yourself, and watch the replay closely.

90% of the people you come up against online will attempt the exact same deke for the penalty shot as they used on the initial breakaway. It's the one they practiced over and over, the one they know works.

Stick your goalie toward whatever side of the net they shot at during the breakaway (or would have shot at had you not blown out their kneecap with your lumber) and watch their tried and tested move get gobbled up by your glove.

How to Deke off the Faceoff in NHL 11

This handy little move is great for breaking out of your own zone, a center-ice faceoff, and even an offensive zone faceoff. To perform, set-up by holding the right stick right (for a left-handed shooter) so you're in a backhand-style faceoff. Hold R1. When the ref starts to drop the puck, move the right stick up. You will not come away with the puck all the time, but you should be able to pull off the move consistently. I hold the L2 button down as well, but I don't think that's important - I just like to be in vision control mode right off the hop.

Video:

How to Score in NHL 11 During the 3rd Period (Part 1)

In this video, you'll see a very tired bunch of guys (1st couple seconds, bottom right). Followed by a 'home team timeout' then, the guys are as fresh as if it were the start of the period! USE THIS TOOL. So many players in ranked online games don't even know about the timeout feature of the game. You must pause the game in order to access this feature, there is no 'on the fly' timeout, so if you have to ice the puck - do it. It's worth it. You can only use the timeout feature once per game, so I highly recommend you save it until the last period. I prefer using my fastest line right after a timeout so I'm able to blow by defenders and hopefully dangle myself a goal.

How to Score in NHL 11 During the 3rd Period Video:

How to Hip Check in NHL 11 (Video)

With the addition of the physics engine in NHL 11, hip checks are one of the most beautiful things to watch...

To perform a hip check in NHL 11, simply line up a normal check, but right before impact, click R3. Your player will stick his ass out and let his victims momentum take him up and over...

Watch:

NHL 11 Strategy - The Value of Chemistry in NHL 11 HUT

What is chemistry in NHL 11?

It's a rating of the player familiarity with his linemates, and so far, chemistry appears to be overlooked in the vast majority of HUT teams that I see online.

What does chemistry do in NHL 11?

It gives a noticeable boost to many aspects of the game, but especially passing. Passing in NHL 11 is one of the hardest things to get used to from previous NHL titles, and in NHL 11 HUT, you can improve yours by building chemistry. My passing success rate must have went up 10% since getting all of my lines chemistry up over 90 points. I think this is not only that they won't bobble hard passes as much, but because the AI positions players slightly better to receive these passes.

How do you create chemistry in NHL 11?

In order of best chemistry to worst chemistry:

3 linemates from the same team,
2 linemates from the same team, plus one from the same league
3 players from the same league
2 players from the same league, plus one from the same locale (ie. 2 from NHL + 1 from AHL is better than 2 from NHL + 1 from DEL)
3 players from the same locale
2 players from the same locale, plus one from outside locale

AND

Try to put everyone in the position they're supposed to play. Don't put a C in an LW's spot, and don't put an RD on the left. Be sure to mix it up as well as far as player types go (Don't put 3 grinders on one line).


BUT

This only applies to your 4 offensive lines and your 3 defensive pairs. Powerplay, penalty kill lines, and goalies have no bearing on your teams chemistry.

Is chemistry really worth it?

I think so. My front line are the Ducks' Blake + Koivu + Lupul and I much prefer their performance than that of the demo's Zetterberg + Malkin + Perry line I used a bunch.

Best thing to do is try playing around with it.

NHL 11 Strategy - Contracts before Upgrades in Hockey Ultimate Team

Do you play hockey ultimate team in NHL 11? If so, a good strategy to keep in mind has to do with your salary cap. The better a player is on your team, the more money he will make - which is sensible. This means though that you can't have every position filled with a superstar NHLer or else you'd be way over your cap. What you can do though to manage this is invest in young prospects. Most decent prospects have over 100 games in their career and start out with an overall rating between 60 and 70, and a potential of 80+. Apply a long contract card (20+ games) immediately before you upgrade his skills. This will make it so you're paying for a 60 rated player, even though he's been upgraded to 80!

Vision Control for Scoring in NHL 11

Happy Labour Day to the residents of Canada and USA!

Vision control in NHL 11 is a very important tool. It can and should be used on defense (hip-checks), one-timers, deflections, dekes, and when you're behind the net. I've talked to a few people who play NHL 10 that keep that vision control button held down 70 percent of the time or more!

It makes your player face the puck (obvious benefits for one-timers and defense), and when behind the net, it makes your player face the goal. In the below video, I keep L2 held down for each goal.

Video

Scoring off the Faceoff in NHL 11 in the Offensive Zone

Quick little video showing off a scoring technique right off the faceoff in the offensive zone.

In the faceoff, tie up your opponent by pressing up on the left stick when the ref starts to move his arm. Switch to your left-winger to grab the puck, wind up a wrist shot and let it fly!!

Fighting in NHL 11 and Why You Need To Learn

Usually, fights in ranked online matches are few and far between. Or so it was in NHL 10. Usually, fights only occurred when a frustrated player was losing and wanted to take out their anger on their opponents best sniper. With NHL 11, this may not be the case.

Why? As shown in the video below, the energy gained from a fight seems to be much greater in NHL 11 than it ever was in NHL 10 (looks like 5 bars gained in NHL 10 compared to 8 bars in NHL 11) Add on top the fact that fatigue is more of a factor in NHL 11, and the new Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) mode where people will be playing with less skilled teams so any advantage will be sought after - NHL 11 could be a bloodbath.

Bottom line. Practice fighting, keep an eye on fatigue, know who the biggest meanest player on your team is, and let him loose if you find yourself under the gun.

Defensive Breakdown #1 in NHL 11 - Getting Out of Position

In the video we see a very common occurrence that can easily lead to an odd-man rush or a breakaway. The defense (Chicago's #2 Duncan Keith) thinks he's got the situation under control and moves in to put a big check on Gagne. He gets the check, but Gagne gets rid of the puck first and now Keith is hopelessly out of position. The resulting goal could have been avoided if Keith played his position.

Video:

Scoring with a Right-Handed Player from the Left Side in NHL 11

A useful tactic has emerged from an odd setup. Skating up the left side with Dave Bolland, a right-handed shooter, he pulls the puck to a backhand and somehow, inadvertently, the move enabled the 6'0 185lb Bolland to beat the 6'5 225lb Coburn on the rush by way of shoulder-pad to the face!

NHL.com states that only 1% of left-wingers are right-handed and only 27% of centers.

However, if you find yourself in this situation, drop that shoulder and plow through!


Video:

NHL 11 - Goals on the Rush

Many players think that to create goals on the rush in NHL 11, you have to have an aggressive breakout to beat defense the up the ice. This can be very tough to accomplish, so next time you're playing try using these settings and see how you do:

NHL 11 (Demo)
Battle for the Cup
Difficulty: All-star
Mode: Normal
Breakout: Defend Lead
Forecheck: 1-2-2 High
Defensive Strategy: Tight Point
Defensive Pressure: Normal
Offensive Strategy: Default to Blackhawks's lines.

The demo restricts play to just the 3rd period - but during that time I managed to score 5 goals on the rush (or generated from the rush).

I know that the Flyers have a very aggressive forecheck in this game - so while all their players are deep in my end, I have 2 forwards guarding the point ready to take off as soon as I take the puck away.

I keep my breakout to 'defend lead' so that my forwards are close by when I need to pass from my defense rather than half-way up the ice. Otherwise, with Philly's crazy forecheck, all my D-men's passes would have a high likelihood of being intercepted.

Call it a cliche, but the best offense is a good defense.

Video:

Dump & Chase vs Aggresive Breakout in NHL 11

Tip of the Day - August 27th 2010

The dump and chase. This isn't something real people do, right? Just the AI? Well, there's certain situations where a dump and chase is very effective in NHL 11.

If you notice your opponent has a very aggressive breakout, try a few dump and chase plays, because here's what can happen:

1. The opponent gets the puck deep in his own end on the boards
2. All the opponents players start breaking toward your end because of the aggressive breakout
3. You poke check, body check or otherwise get the puck
4. You have a VERY open play to either dangle to the net or setup a high % one-timer
   

My Settings: NHL 11 Demo / Battle for the Cup / Difficulty: "All-star" / Mode: "Normal" / Offensive Setup: "Crash the Net"

Video:

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