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The hockey season started this week. Not the official National Hockey League schedule -- that doesn't kick into gear until Oct. 4. But the new season for hockey-gaming fans started on Tuesday, Sept. 9 with the release of Electronic Arts' NHL 09.

EA staged a press event to celebrate the day, with a media gathering at Burnaby 8-Rinks, just a few clicks from the EA Canada campus. Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf, whose likeness is on copies of the game released in North America, was the star of the show. A longtime fan of EA's hockey sim, Phaneuf was clearly having fun being the cover boy.

Joining Phaneuf were Drew Doughty (D, Los Angeles Kings), Josh Harding (G, Minnesota Wild), Patrick O'Sullivan (C, Los Angeles Kings), Corey Perry (RW, Anaheim Ducks), and Jeremy Roenick (C, San Jose Sharks).

The six hockey players were not only in Burnaby to fete media, but also to don the black spandex outfits so EA producers could begin gathering motion-capture footage for next year's edition of the game. (As a side note, EA producers should take my advice and call next year's game NHL 2010. NHL 10 just doesn't work.)

EA Sports press events are always interesting, because of the blend of video-game and sports journalists. It's a bit like the last time I rode the Whistler chair lift with a tourist from Japan -- we just didn't speak the same language. But I pressed ahead and asked the players what they thought about video games.

All six admitted to having played games, although Perry said he didn't have time to play very often. Doughty was the youngest of the bunch - he was drafted second overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft - and said that his junior team, Guelph Storm, had gaming consoles in their home dressing room.

They had all played EA's hockey game and considered NHL 08 to be their most-played title. Apparently the tendency of hockey players to play golf in their off-season carries to their off-ice digital entertainmen, too: four of the six said that Tiger Woods PGA Tour was one of their favourites.

Phaneuf could actually be described as a hardcore gamer. He said he liked playing shooters and war games in addition to the sports titles.

As for Roenick, who was drafted into the NHL the same year that Doughty was born - 1988 - admitted that his 11-year-old son "kicks my ass" when playing video games. "Us old fellas are used to Asteroids and Space Invaders and the original Atari," he said. Roenick allows his son to play Grand Theft Auto, "but I make him play it on mute. That's the rule."

Asking the NHLers which superhero would make the best hockey player caused some raised eyebrows. Phaneuf just said, "Next question." Harding name checked Will Smith in saying that Hancock would be good on the ice and Doughty figured that Batman and his gadgets would be sure to put some pucks in the net. O'Sullivan thought that Superman would be a pretty good athlete.

Perry, the most stoic of the six, rewarded me with an uncharacteristic half-smile when I asked the question. "Superman can do it all," he mused. "He pushes trains."