NHL 11 may be most remembered for exposing thousands of hockey fans to the HUT virus. But for players of Be A GM, Be A Pro, Online Versus, and the EA Sports Hockey League, that edition is more likely to be recalled as the last time that Electronic Arts made significant changes to its face-off system. While the simplistic "rock-paper-scissors" interface was considered an improvement by 2010's standards, the mechanics' inherent limitations and pre-scripted nature have started to feel antiquated in recent seasons.

If face-offs are an important enough part of professional hockey that the Nashville Predators would gladly send the Buffalo Sabres their first-round draft pick just to ensure that fourth-line grinder (and face-off expert) Paul Gaustad would take the majority of the team's defensive zone draws every evening, then surely it is worth expanding this neglected area of EA's NHL games.

How To Improve Face-Offs For NHL 16

Step #1 A face-off should start by having each centerman select a stance:

Hold down the right trigger for a forehand grip, or hold down the left trigger for a backhand grip. For left-handed centers, simply reverse those directions.

If the player does not pick a stance and place his stick on the ice, he will be sent out of the face-off circle, per NHL rules. A text prompt will appear on-screen urging users to hold down one of the triggers to begin a draw. This message could be permanently disabled in the options, but it would be turned on by default.

Step #2 After establishing a stance, the four face-button icons (X, circle, square, triangle) will appear on screen, though they will be grayed out with a clear silhouette. Each icon represents a teammate that you could potentially win the face-off to by pressing his assigned button once the puck drops. Tapping the button once will send a soft, controllable pass directly onto your teammate's stick. Holding the button down will have your teammate attempt to one-time a harder, less-predictable pass, and turn it into a shot on net, a dump-in, or a clearance, depending on whether you're starting in the offensive, neutral, or defensive zone.

Your teammates' icons will "light up" and display their full color as soon as the referee lets the puck fall. Users can disable these on-screen indicators if they wish, but by default, they are turned on to help beginners understand how to take draws.

If players just want to win the puck into a specific space on the ice instead of sending it straight to a teammate, they can flick the right joystick in any direction once the puck drops to aim the puck in that direction.

Step #3 Determining the outcome of each face-off should mostly be a matter of timing.

If one center beats the other center to the puck within a designated timing window, he will win the draw cleanly to his intended target. In this scenario, the accuracy of the winning center's pass will primarily depend on his face-off rating, but it can be further modified by whether or not the winning button press was held down (creating a hard, wild pass) or was quickly tapped (generating a soft, controlled pass).

If the two centers' timing registers outside that first designated "win" window, but one player is still slightly ahead of the other, then the winner's attempted pass might get deflected off course unpredictably by a clash of the centermen's sticks.

If the timing contest is simply too close to call, then the puck will get stuck in between the centers' bodies, and both will be temporarily neutralized while a dynamic scrum ensues and the other players jump in to retrieve the puck in real-time. The wingers and defensemen would not follow any pre-scripted tie-up routines like they do in NHL 15. As soon as the puck is touched by a non-center, the centermen will regain control of their players.

AI players' timing will be dependent on their face-off rating. Guys like Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews will rarely draw early when controlled by the CPU. Weak face-off takers like Mike Ribeiro will be slower to react and more likely to get ejected for a violation.

If a user-controlled center gets disqualified, his four face-button icons will light up again, and he can simply pick whom he wants to substitute in for the draw. Back-to-back face-off violations will result in a two-minute minor penalty, per the NHL rulebook.

To prevent griefers from ruining Online Versus games by repeatedly drawing early on purpose, users will be booted from the game session and given an automatic loss if they commit three consecutive or nine total face-off infractions. Additionally, in Online Team Play, a majority vote will ask teammates if they want to move their center to a different position if he is thrown out of three consecutive or six total face-offs.

Step #4 Designed plays are a great way to score from face-offs in real hockey, but they're hard to perform in NHL 15, since the game offers only three preset formations for each zone of the ice, and it doesn't give you any control over how your teammates will react once the puck is put into play.

Giving users the power to create their own customized face-off formations and record AI movement for set face-off plays would help bring more offensive creativity to the NHL series, just as it did when EA introduced custom set pieces to its FIFA franchise.

Step #5 As far back as the SEGA Genesis era, EA has always tried to artificially lower the number of face-offs in its NHL titles by encouraging goalies to pass the puck out of a covered position. This is not a proper hockey tactic, and as such, should no longer be encouraged in the series.

The problem could easily be rectified if the referees simply whistled plays dead as soon as the puck is swallowed up into the goalie's gear. Currently, the goaltender has almost two full seconds from the time he touches the puck to decided whether or not he wants to toss the rubber back out.

Goalie hand-passes not only have way too much power and accuracy, but they also have a bizarre invulnerability effect, which often prevents the puck from being intercepted by offensive players.

Plays like that should result in an offensive zone face-off for the attacking team every single time, not a totally unrealistic breakout and completely undeserved rush for the defending team.fil