Instead, you'll have to also manage when to come off and back on to the ice. Of course, you can't be on the ice all the time. The game allows you to call for the puck and direct your players to shoot when you feel it's appropriate, but for the most part you are controlling your player and your player alone. The camera angle drops down behind your player for a more intimate perspective on things.
On the ice, Be A Pro is very similar to what we've seen from other EA Sports franchises. You'll slowly work your way from the third line of your minor league squad and, if your talents impress the coaches enough, you'll get bumped up to the big time. Each attribute for your player needs to be advanced individually and with experience points being handed out in increments as low as 16 (it takes over 200 points to advance some attributes a single point) there's little question that you could spend dozens of hours with the mode. Before heading into your career, be warned, Be A Pro is a mode that is built to last quite some time. You'll begin in the AHL unless you elect to control an already established NHL player (aka the weak sauce route).
From there you're given a brief tutorial on the right analog stick controls and then it's time to jump into your fledging career. You'll find more licensed products than you can shake a stick at, plenty of hairstyles and lots of other little nuances to toy around with. As soon as NHL 09 begins, you're prompted to create your virtual likeness, complete with all the customization options that you'd expect from today's crop of sports games. The first feature that hockey nuts are going to want to dive into is Be A Pro. Luckily, this year's hockey offering from EA Sports not only doesn't disappoint, it raises the bar set by NHL 08 in nearly every way, from awesome new modes to slight refinements, to the already stellar controls. Such is the case with NHL 09 whose predecessor is widely regarded as one of the best sports games in memory. Obviously, everyone always wants to come out on top, but doing so raises expectations considerably for the next year. A championship season is both a blessing and a curse.