the ice skating was fixed as of live 07. players in both games have real weight to them and you can't stop on a dime at all...
as to aegisx questions:
pop up stats do go away quickly, i agree. i also think there aren't enough of them. for a game with espn integration, you would think there would be more...still, the actual stat tracking is excellent. you just need to pause the game to take a look at it lol
they give you a full halftime show with the cheerleaders dancing around, the mascot acting like an idiot and some talking. if you're not ready to play after that then i don't know what to tell you...
as of right now, nobody's found a way to make recruiting less of a chore. not saying there's not a way (since as you said the manual is terrible), but we're still working on it
playing dynasty with a small school means (unfortunately?) that nobody cares about your game lol. you get the arena announcer and that's it. for me its a very cool and realistic touch.
i had this same complaint after the first few games. after learning how to play smart, i've found the fouls are very realistic. keep pounding the ball inside and the other team will hammer you. and as you said, you really have to watch your composure on the road. make smart use of your timeouts. now (without touching sliders at all) i'm averaging between 15-25 ft attempts, which is very realistic. same for the cpu...
i haven't found any in game scouting reports, but the teams in the game are extremely faithful to their real life counterparts...
you can set up plays any number of ways. when choosing your starting lineup you can hit the LB to call up your offensive and defensive sets. i believe it defaults to the play set in your profile, so if you want to play realistically, you can change it to the team specific strategy and playbook on this screen. in game, you can choose plays and sets from the team management screen
the impact moment is special and needs to be done during a stoppage (to prevent delay of game or getting a technical). but you don't have to wait for a stoppage in play to use the meter to impact momentum. you can it the LB in game and then choose what you want to do using the right analog stick. when you hit the button it will call up 4 choices, pump up the crowd, taunt the other team (watch this, as i've seen technicals called), compose your teammates or compose yourself...any of which can have a huge impact on momentum...
the manual is terrible...