I need help. I really suck at NHL 18.

Do u play hockey in real life because if u apply ur knowledge of the game on ice to the basic controls it helps

Maybe watch others play? Recently in Youtube, Northernlion started to play the game with his friends. They were suck at first so you can see the progress. Plus they are fun to watch.

Don’t feel bad. The skating engine in 18 is fucking atrocious and very badly emulates real life skating.

Thankfully the nhl 19 beta showed us they are capable of fixing it, I’d wait a few weeks and invest your time and energy in learning to play that one instead.

Glad you're giving a different game a try! I for one have always wanted to try out a Cricket game but I have no idea how the rules work. It's baffling and very intimidating to start trying to figure out a completely new sport. Anyway, here's my attempt to help with basics.

If I were you I would stick to Be a Pro mode to start. Managing just your own player vs. AI controlled players is probably best. Handling a whole team and switching between those players, knowing which player should be taking shots vs. who probably shouldn't is probably too much for you to worry about.

You may want to take a video of yourself playing Be A Pro and post it here, I know I would be glad to give you some pointers if I could see what it is your doing wrong out there. It sounds like you're playing "tots hockey" though, i.e. you're chasing the puck all around the ice. Unless you're the closest player to the puck you probably shouldn't be the one going after it. You should try to predict where the opponent might pass the puck. Cover an open man, or try to get between the puck carrier and his teammates and intercept a pass.

As for offense, you should know that you can get your AI teammates to pass you the puck with R2. Your dude will tap his stick on the ice and ask for a pass which the AI will usually attempt to make. Be careful you have an open passing lane though.

The simplest way to score in this game is to shoot from the slot. The slot is the area directly in front of the goalie and it extends up between the two circles. Here is Alex Ovechkin (probably the most gifted goal scorer ever) with a prime one-timer as he drifts down the slot. If you're on offense and you don't have the puck you should try to get into a position, like Ovechkin does, to accept a pass. If you have the puck on the other hand try to navigate to that area before shooting. You'll also have better luck shooting "against the grain". If you're moving to your right into the slot area try shooting at the left side of the net. The goalie will be moving with you and trying to make a save while moving in the other direction is much harder.

A large part of being decent at the game is the rock/paper/scissors approach to movement. If you can correctly predict where the play is going, you have a better chance of stopping it. On offense you’re doing the same in reverse. Try playing a game and then watching the replay (in theatre mode). Watch where players without the puck are. It will help you predict passes and choose lanes to the net.

The basic premise on D you should follow is “stay between the puck and the net”. Don’t try to hit, don’t even try to poke check. Just stay inside the player with the puck. As you get better at that, you can start to get closer to him and go for the poke/hit.

I playing for 4 years and still suck. It's all just an addictive grind.

What game mode are you playing? And have you used the in-game tutorial?

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On defense, I used to be really bad as well until I started learning how to play d irl. Always remember that you’re trying to keep the forward out of dangerous areas in the slot, force the offensive player to the outside. Don’t be too agressive on offense to limit odd man rushes. On offense, if I can’t seem to get past the opponents blue line, I dump the puck in and forcheck. You’d be surprised at how many times the opponent turns the puck over when I do this

If you want to play with me and youre on PS4 and can show you some things

Others have given some really good tips but I think the biggest thing for a person new to hockey or this game, is that you don't need to get the puck back ASAP when you're on defense, you just need to make it difficult. Don't poke too much, don't throw yourself out of position trying to hit, just be patient and stay in the lane of the easiest pass/shot. Force the other player to have to make a tough play or a play they don't want to do. Give up the outside/perimeter. Another thing I often tell new people is to just play defense like you're the one on offense. Look around, survey your opponent's options. What would you do? Then, use this perspective to cover/anticipate the play.

If you're bad at offense then take your breakdowns as a learning experience and re-watch how you were exposed. What could you have done differently? Who was open that you didn't see open? Did you take a bad shot when you could have cycled it back to the d-man who was wide open?

Send a letter to EA and ask them if they can fly you over to learn how to play their game.

Good be a good PR move.