In attendance were the venerable (and hockey game legend from NHL 04) Jeremy Roenick, cover athlete Dion Phaneuf, Corey Perry, Patrick O’Sullivan and Wild goalie Josh Harding.  At the event all the players got to experience the “Be a Pro” mode and played as themselves.  It was set up as the Calgary Flames (for Phaneuf) vs. the San Jose Sharks (for Roenick).  Here are just a few comments that could be heard from the players.

Roenick: “Holy crap this game is realistic!” – after Perry cross-checked his player and was assessed a penalty

Phaneuf: “I’m not sure who would win in a fight between myself and Dan Boyle” – after his character lays out Boyle in a scrap

Roenick: “Jesus this is realistic.” – about the game in general

So yeah, you get the point.  They were loving it.

Also attending the event were gaming journalists from far and wide.  I had the privilege of getting a chance to chat with Brian Ekberg of Gamespot fame.  He was a very cool guy and is one of the best and most respected game journalists around today.  Thanks for being so approachable Brian!

Brian Ekberg and Yours Truly

Overall it was a great event and with the reviews pouring in being overwhelming positive, it seems NHL 2009 is poised to have another great year.

Check out some more photos from the event below.  I’ll have a review of the game up sometime in the coming weeks after some extensive testing of the online leagues…but the early word is that the game is amazing.