Defensive Skill Stick - NHL 08 gave you true offensive prowess with the Skill Stick, and this year, you have the power to stop it. Block passing lanes with 360° control of your stick or kill an opponent's one timer game by lifting their stick just before they receive a pass
Be A Pro - A dynamic 3rd person camera puts you in the role of one player on a team. The Performance Tracker will rate your play in over 50 categories, to make sure you know what parts of your game need to improve. Start your career off in the ranks of the AHL and become one of the best in the NHL. Your very own hockey card will mark your progress, from your rookie beginnings to a potentially legendary ending
Create-A-Play Breakouts - create a winning strategy in both online and offline play. Make breakout plays from your own zone or set up behind your net and tell your right winger to look for the flip dump from the defenseman
NHL 94 Controls - Hit, pass, shoot, and score using the simplified two-button control system featured in NHL 94. So even if you're new to the game, you can challenge the best of the best
Become the first great name in videogame hockey with NHL 09. Jump into the EA SPORTS Hockey League and become part of the first console sports MMO. Take your created player online and join a team with friends, or scout for players. Featuring 6 vs. 6 online team play, the ability to level up your player, tournament brackets, and awards at the end of every season. Check Hard and Fight - A physics-based checking and fighting engine featuring more than 300 new animations brings a higher-level of intensity to the game
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Don't buy into all the hype:
This game is fun at 1st, however I have to agree with parts of the review from Gwilym. I have been playing hockey sims for some years now and although this one has some nice features and graphics, gameplay is what it is really about and this game is just not up to all the hype, it is neither arcade or a simulator in an arcade game you would have simpler to use controls and less realism, in a sim you would get NHL type games, in this game the AI is horrid, your goalie is nearly useless as are your team mates... more info
Fun game:
First off, let me say, that like many other reviewers, I feel this is one of the best hockey games (although I'm still a sucker for NHL 94 and 95). Also, I am yet to experience any of the glitches (knock on wood) that I've heard other people have had. While the be a pro mode is really fun and an ingenious idea, I'm a fan of the old-fashioned mode of controling the whole team. My only question is to Amazon... WHY IS THIS GAME [...]?!? I'm sure it's just a glitch, but it won't sell for [...]bucks.... more info
Very unrealistic because of the goalies:
This is a fun game in many ways, but with some very frustrating drawback. EA Sports has been producing this game for 17 years now and they have received the same criticism for all those years - still they seem unable to do anything about it. Here goes:
1. As in every other NHL-game in this series, the AI is very bad. Even if you play at the most advanced level, you will very soon dominate the game completely.
2. The goaltenders are just as pathetic as ever. To compensate for not being able... more info
Great game when I can get it to play:
This game freezes during game play or sometimes I can't even play because the disk will come up as unreadable. For the past 3 years I have had this problem with EA Sports NHL games. Every other game I have works perfectly.