I play this game on my Droid using the Nesoid emulator. Fortunately, it has a fast forward option, so the post-injury delay is manageable.
I thought I'd been playing the latest, but I hadn't. Because you'd mentioned fixing the playoff brackets, I've been checking for an update. At some point I downloaded it, but somehow it never made it to my phone. I will spend some time playing the latest before giving much more feedback.
I play mostly as the Flyers. I tried playing in playoff mode with some "crappy" teams for a challenge, but whenever I chose a team that didn't actually make the playoffs, Winnipeg, Toronto, Islanders... The ROM locked up. I figured this was a result of having the playoffs accurately match this year’s seedings.
I've felt your ratings were pretty darn good. Jagr is slow as can be going down the ice, Wellwood flies... Asham scores way too often when I play against the Penguins, but what can you do?
I totally get some changes being ridiculously hard to make compared to their value. So here's a wishlist, which comes with no expectation of you actually making any of these changes:
-Add the trapezoid to the ice behind the nets
-More time to hold the puck as the goalie before a whistle. Ideally, a button that would cover the puck and end play. The AI goalie seems to have this ability, and also is afforded longer time with the puck.
-Fix/update the logos when selecting teams
-For the AI players to not go so stupidly offsides!
-I've always felt icing was a bit too strict. If you could somehow virtually move the icing line back 5 feet...
-As much as I like the lack of stars and arrows, I do miss quickly knowing which player has the puck. As in, knowing that I'm Hartnell as I come in on the breakaway. If you could somehow have the player's number appear in white/black on the player's chest when they're being controlled, that would be flat out awesome. Of course any overlay would probably look pretty bad when the player turned sideways, so probably not worth it.
I'll play the latest version a bit and let you know if I have any additional feedback. I have a vague appreciation for how much work this takes, so I can almost forgive your calling the lockout a gift... almost.
Edit: Oh, and I say keep Phoenix. Lose the Islanders ;-)