Dion Phaneuf scored his first goal of the 2008-09 hockey season on September 9, a month before the puck dropped on the NHL season.

The Calgary Flames defenceman was in Vancouver when he put the puck in the net, helping celebrate the release of Electronic Arts’ NHL 09. His likeness graces the cover of North American copies of the game, and he was clearly excited to be the centre of attention at EA’s press event.

At a Burnaby hockey complex, he suited up in black spandex for a session of motion-capture filming for next year’s edition of the game. He took slapshots, moved L.A. Kings forward Patrick O’Sullivan out from in front of the net, and stood up for some two-on-ones against San Jose Sharks’ Jeremy Roenick and Anaheim Ducks’ Corey Perry. He even took on Roenick in a couple of mock fights.

“It’s pretty cool to be out here for the day, to do your moves and know that they’re going to be in a video game,” Phaneuf told the assembled media. In a later interview at EA’s Burnaby campus, Phaneuf admits to being a gamer with a preference for shooting and war games. He says that the reality of NHL 09 is impressive. Then he suits up — virtually — for a six-on-six game between NHLers (Kings defenceman Drew Doughty and Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding were also part of the event) and media.

Watching Phaneuf score early in the first period, lead producer David Littman says that NHL 09 is the best iteration of the hockey franchise. “We feel it’s one of the most authentic sports games ever made,” he says in an interview. The game’s previous incarnation, last year’s NHL 08, garnered seven Sports Game of the Year awards. Award competitors included popular and acclaimed titles like Madden and Tiger Woods, a fact that Littman admits to being proud of.

The EA Sports Hockey League, a new feature this year, allows for six-on-six games to be played online. Littman says the goal is to “bring hockey fans from around the world together.” Being able to play six-on-six games is only part of the experience, Littman says, because gamers can use their created character to form a team and participate in the league. “We want to give players the feeling of stepping on NHL ice and being a superstar.”

Littman confesses that NHL 07 “wasn’t great.” The only reason it stood out and was noticed, he says, was the “skill stick” innovation, which he says was comparable to the ability to take one-timer shots, a feature introduced in 1994. NHL 08 continued to improve the offensive use of the skill stick. With NHL 09, Littman says the development team concentrated on using the skill stick defensively, by allowing players to lift sticks and initiate stick-on-stick contact. “It’s difficult enough trying to get body-on-body contact, or puck-on-stick contact,” Littman says, “but stick-on-stick contact was really tricky.”

As for how he plans to evolve the game, Littman suggestes that board play is one area he’ll be looking at. “We’ve got great hits but no board play,” he says. He wants virtual power forwards to be able to move the puck along the boards with their skate, and virtual defence to be able to pin them. “And we don’t think our fighting is up to par,” he adds.

In the players-versus-media game, Phaneuf takes a penalty, his first of the new hockey season. Littman laughs because the image on Phaneuf’s monitor was of his virtual self looking out at the ice from the sin bin, a view the Flames defenceman is familiar with. “I love watching these guys play the game,” says Littman.

NHL 09 (publisher: Electronic Arts; platform: PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360; rating: everyone 10+)

The latest version of Electronic Arts’ hockey sim is not simply the best version of its game, it is the best hockey video game on the market. The sports game, developed at the Burnaby campus and available for PS3 and Xbox 360 (a PC version ships later in October), has improved animations, is more responsive than ever before, and looks great on a high-definition television. The “skill stick” feature (introduced two years ago) has been given a defensive purpose. In addition to using the right control stick to control stickhandling, passing and shooting, now you can use it to lift an opponent’s hockey stick just as they’re about to receive a pass or take a shot. The big addition to the franchise, though, and the reason why any gamer who likes to take to the virtual ice must add NHL 09 to their library, is the ability to play six-on-six games with 11 other players. Create your own NHL player in the “be a pro” mode, form a team with five friends and take your game on the road. The difficulty, which is also true of real-life hockey, is finding someone willing to play goal.