NHL 12: Build of the Week -- Sniper

Sorry about the lack of updates lately. I have been getting slammed at work and been busy playing games rather than writing about them.

My build this week is a sniper build as requested by @bret_11 on Twitter.

Here is a link to the build.


Sniper, Legend 3
5'9"
165 lbs.
13" blades
Regular Stick Flex
Second Lowest Curve

Deking: 90 (+5)
Hand Eye: 86
Off Awareness: 95
Passing: 85 (+5)
Puck Control: 90 (+5)
SS Accuracy: 85
SS Power: 75
WS Accuracy: 85 (+5)
WS Power: 75

Aggression: 40
Body Check: 42
Def Awareness: 67
Discipline: 99
Faceoffs: 60
Fighting: 40
Shot Blocking: 50
Stick Check: 87 (+8)

Acceleration: 80 (+5)
Agility: 82 (+8)
Balance: 70
Durability: 61
Endurance: 90 (+5)
Speed: 82 (+8)
Strength: 64

I will admit I have not played this exact build (although I have played a similar one) and in general I am not a big fan of the sniper this year and haven't found a build I like overall. However, I think this is basically the only build where you can have a good wrister and slapper at the same time. You should be able to snipe off the rush and also setup on the far dot and uncork slappers on cross ice feeds. It is obviously heavy on the offense and athletics. Defensively you have a really good poke check and a marginal defensive awareness. This is a classic perimeter sniper and not built for battling in front of the net. Let me know what you think.

Update: I actually ran this exact build last night for a couple of games and had 5 goals and 5 assists. I scored a couple of goals from near the top of the circles off the rush using the defense as a screen, another slapshot one timer from above the hash marks, a cross crease tap in, and a wrister from around the left dot that beat the goalie to the right side. So this build pretty much performs as expected offensively. Defensively I managed to deflect one puck into my own net then poke check another own goal as well. So this build isn't just good at scoring goals against the other team it is good to score them on yours as well.