A fun hockey game. But it has some issues.
Gameplay:
It's fun and addicting. Passing is pointing at the desired target and pressing A. A slap shot is performed by holding B and swinging the wii-mote with your desired power. A wrist shot is performed by a nice, simple flick of the wrist. I found that the games are pretty upbeat with the different difficulty levels very diverse in AI performance. The Zamboni mini-game is addicting for me. It is very hard to clean 100% of the ice. Fighting is very hard. There is a glitch in the fighting where neither player ever goes down and the fight goes on forever until you reset your system. Franchise mode is very immersive as it contains all the complicated NHL salary caps and contracts. I would have liked to see an owner mode where you can also hire/fire coaches and build new arenas. There is a very, very major problem in franchise where it freezes up. The only resolution to this is to turn off injuries. But, if you had already started a season and it begins to freeze up, you're screwed. I noticed this in other 2K games like MLB 2K8 for the Wii but in MLB it doesn't freeze in the same place all the time like in NHL 2K9. The presentation of the menus was pretty terrible. It was completely different than in other 2K sports games and it took a couple hours to get used to.
Graphics:
No one was expecting much after the screenshots we saw before the release. The game's menus look terrible and some of the text is very, very small. The on-ice skaters and such look on-par with Wii/Xbox caliber. The crowds are 2-d paper and don't do much moving which takes away from the atmosphere of the games. The graphics better get better for next year's game.
Sound:
The menu soundtrack is just not my cup of tea except for one or maybe two songs. Also, there is no way to change a track in the middle of the song like in MLB 2K8. The in-game commentary is pretty terrible at some times. Playing in franchise mode, you're likely to hear the same thing many, many times. The crowd noise is almost non-existent. For this game, I would mute the volume and play your own tunes in the background.
Lasting Impression:
This is one fun game to play. For next years game, if they improve the graphics (a lot), get some new commentators, and choose a better soundtrack, and fix the freezing problem (please!!!) they'll have one great game on their hands. For you hockey fans with only a Wii, you should look into buying this game. But if you have a PS3 or a 360, look into NHL 09. It's the better game....for now.