A moderately-quiet day in hockey news but there was this note from the NHL today:

2K Sports [...] today announced that the next iteration of the popular hockey franchise, NHL 2K9, will be coming to the Wii™ console from Nintendo this fall. As the first and only officially licensed NHL and NHLPA video game for Wii, NHL 2K9 will offer fans the fun opportunity to play like the pros using the Wii Remote™ controller as a hockey stick, and enjoy playing hockey in a wholly unique and entertaining experience like never before.

“Nintendo is thrilled to have 2K Sports’ NHL 2K9 on the Wii platform this season,” said Steve Singer, VP of Licensing at Nintendo of America Inc. “This title has been highly anticipated by our Wii consumers who will now be able to use the Wii Remote to face-off, play hockey, and fire a slap shot in their living rooms.”

I’m not an avid gamer, but this news just made me a bit poorer—I swear I’m buying a Wii, just for this thing.

As Steve Tilley said in the Calgary Sun back when the Wii was first introduced: “How cool would it be to grip the Nintendo Wii’s motion-sensing controller like the handle of a hockey stick, miming wrist shots and one-timers and maybe the odd crippling cross-check…?”

Awesome. Although I fully expect people are gonna hurt themselves…

Update 12:20pm PT: Photo of the game cover, courtesy of the NHL…