it's a fun game, but it's not hockey. not even close
the new deke is a fun addition, and an improved defensive skill stick helps a bit, but they are not quite as effective as they could be; for example, the one-handed deke severely slows down the player performing it, which often but not always destroys the advantage of using it. the defensive stick is better, but on the higher difficulty levels the opposing attackmen seem to have a resistance to poke-checks. the new hitting engine is a good solid improvement over the engine of 08, and i have no major complaints about it. the shooting system is identical to 08's, which i liked (i used the default controls) and the option of using the old school 94 controls is nice as well.
the goaltending system, as a goalie myself, is where i get more critical. 09 made an attempt to make the goalies more realistic and not so perfectly mechanical on everything, but it ended up with only 3 or 4 new animations of a goalie doing a split or falling on his ass after getting deked out. the goalies also seem to be allergic to the one handed dekes, as whenever i use them, my chances of scoring seem to skyrocket. there is also a steep difference in the goalies' skill levels between pro mode and allstar mode. in pro i was averaging 7-8 goals in the game when i played as the buffalo sabres (not one of the stronger teams in the game) and when i played all-star or superstar i was limited to 2-3 goals per game.
my biggest problem with nhl 09 is the speed and the AI. the AI's offense is very controllable. that is to say that if you play defense solidly, the AI offense will end up doing roughly the same thing every time, and fail miserably at it. the defensive AI is better, especially when you turn the "AI learning" setting all the way up, as it will adapt a good deal to your offensive tendencies, but it can still be beaten if you shake up your attacking strategies. the speed of nhl 09 however, is by far the most blatanly obvious and horrendously annoying flaw. at top speed, the game goes at a walking pace. it destroys the beauty and excitement of hockey. it takes the fastest sport on earth, and slows it down to a crawl. it's worth a buy, and the new instant replay features, media hub, and be a pro mode are fun, but it's a depressing letdown that i strongly hope will we improved upon in 2010