The AI is never good enough until patch 2 or maybe 3 in NHL's case.....you ever played online versus someone with create a plays.
A green circle pops up on my end so I can see that they have called a play.
9 times out of 10 the guy is trying to run some cycle play to get his guy close for the wrap around exploit or the short side slapper in front....its laughable.
I've never tried to use create a play in NHL yet and I've played probably 650 online games. I probably should look at it....but I just have more fun jumping on and playing instead of spending a few hours working on a few plays.
The feature i think is better for you offline guys, but online its usually just some lame attempt to exploit the AI.