From the EA forums via Jason Rupert, a programmer for NHL 09, who has been actively discussing the upcoming patch.
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Really makes you wonder when several things are listed as having no effect, broken or not being used... 
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PLAYER ATTRIBUTE EFFECTS
Offensive Attributes
Wrist shot accuracy
-Accuracy of all shots other than slapshots
Wrist shot power
-Power of all shots other than slapshots
Puck Control
-Related to the deking effect of shooting, good puck control prevents the loss of accuracy
- Ability to keep the puck when bumped or there is stick to stick contact on the puck carrier
Deking
-Quality of loose puck dekes
-Speed of right stick deking
-Effect on shot accuracy while deking
Slap Shot Accuracy
-Accuracy of slap shots
Slap Shot Power
-Power of slap shots
Passing
-Magnitude of the effect on quality of passes outside of the player's field of view (see Off.Aware)
-Also affects the likelihood of pass interception, e.g. a good passer affects opponents ability to intercept passes. This is old stuff, I do not like this artificial approach at all, it should just affect the quality of the pass and the opponents should deal with the puck based on their own situation and attributes. This is part of the cause of the weirdness you sometimes see where players won't intercept pucks it seems they should.
- Automatic saucer passes for humans
-Other effects on CPU passing
Off. Awareness
-Field of view is for making passes, passes to players outside field of view are slowed (see Passing)
-Affects CPU player decision making when passing
Deflections
- Affects the quality of deflections off slap passes.
- Ideally this would have more of an effect on whether the deflection connects in the first place and on how well placed the deflected puck is. Should be improved for NHL10.
Defensive Attributes
Balance
-Ability to resist hits and keep control of the puck
Checking
-Ability to hit
- CPU decision to hit
Defensive Awareness
-Pass interceptions
-Reaction time for defensively deflecting passes away
-For CPU, more effort on when backchecking
Discipline
- Takes fewer penalties, for humans this affects calls that would randomly occur on hits (like elbows)
Face- offs
-Better chance of winning face- offs
Shot Blocking
-Bad shot blockers get the standing shot block, good ones get the sliding one which reduces the screen effect.
Aggressiveness
-Tendency of CPU player to body check
-No effect on human.
Athleticism Attributes
Acceleration
- Forward acceleration
Agility
-Turning ability
Speed
-Top speed
Toughness
-Fighting ability
Endurance
-Recover from fatigue more quickly
Durability
- Ability to withstand injuries
GOALIE ATTRIBUTE EFFECTS
Goalie Reflex Attributes
Angles
-How far out the goalie comes to challenge
-Quickness reacting to a pass
Breakaway
-Modifies save ability on breakaways (essentially a modifier on Agility for this case only)
Five hole
Glove High
Glove Low
Stick High
Stick Low
-Quickness making saves to the respective region
Goalie Puck Control Attributes
Passing
- Goalie pass and clearance strength
Poke Checking
-Likelihood of the goalie attempting a poke check (CPU only)
Puck Playing
- How aggressively the goalie will go out to play a loose puck
Rebound Control
-Modifies how far the puck bounces off the goalie when it hits him
Shot Recovery
-How quickly the goalie gets up when after being down - currently no effect
Goalie Athleticism Attributes
Agility
-Quickness making saves in general, combines with region attribs (5-hole, glove high, glove low, stick high, stick low)
- Acceleration moving around the crease
Aggressiveness
-Should be how far he comes out to challenge, but it is not working currently because it is tied to Angles instead
Durability
-Not used in game because goalies do not get injured currently
Endurance
-Not used in game
Speed
-Speed moving in the crease and when skating
Vision
-Reduces the likelihood of the goalie being screened
SLIDER EFFECTS
Basic
Game Speed
-Makes everything in the game faster
Puck Control
-How easily players lose the puck
Fight Difficulty
-Damage done by CPU punches
Fatigue Effect
-How much fatigue effects skating attributes (Speed, Acceleration and Agility)
AI Learning
-AI player (on human or CPU team) adjustment to repetitious success
-0 means it is off altogether
Skating
Fat igue Recovery
-Rate of recovery of energy when idle on the ice, on the bench and at stoppages of play
Player Acceleration
-Scales the acceleration of all players
Checking
Hitti ng Power
-Ease of getting big hits
Aggression
-Broken, does nothing
Poke Effectiveness
-Ease of successfully poke checking the puck away
Passing
Pass Speed
-Puck speed on passes
Saucer Pass Speed
-Puck speed on saucer passes (RT)
Pass Interceptions
-Global modifier on the chance of pass interceptions for both teams
Goalie Passing
-Modifies the effect of the goalie passing attribute, making goalies pass harder and CPU goalies more likely to make long passes
Shooting
Shot P ower
-Global scale on shot power for both teams
Shot Accuracy
-Global scale on accuracy for both teams
Shot Blocking
- Global scale on Tendency of players to block shots for both teams
Defense
Hook Effectiveness
-Not used
Penalty Shot Frequency
-Modifies how likely an infraction that is evaluated as a penalty shot is to actually get called a penalty shot
Goalie Cover Puck Frequency
-Makes goalies want to cover up the puck more
Offensive Attributes
Wrist shot accuracy
-Accuracy of all shots other than slapshots
Wrist shot power
-Power of all shots other than slapshots
Puck Control
-Related to the deking effect of shooting, good puck control prevents the loss of accuracy
- Ability to keep the puck when bumped or there is stick to stick contact on the puck carrier
Deking
-Quality of loose puck dekes
-Speed of right stick deking
-Effect on shot accuracy while deking
Slap Shot Accuracy
-Accuracy of slap shots
Slap Shot Power
-Power of slap shots
Passing
-Magnitude of the effect on quality of passes outside of the player's field of view (see Off.Aware)
-Also affects the likelihood of pass interception, e.g. a good passer affects opponents ability to intercept passes. This is old stuff, I do not like this artificial approach at all, it should just affect the quality of the pass and the opponents should deal with the puck based on their own situation and attributes. This is part of the cause of the weirdness you sometimes see where players won't intercept pucks it seems they should.
- Automatic saucer passes for humans
-Other effects on CPU passing
Off. Awareness
-Field of view is for making passes, passes to players outside field of view are slowed (see Passing)
-Affects CPU player decision making when passing
Deflections
- Affects the quality of deflections off slap passes.
- Ideally this would have more of an effect on whether the deflection connects in the first place and on how well placed the deflected puck is. Should be improved for NHL10.
Defensive Attributes
Balance
-Ability to resist hits and keep control of the puck
Checking
-Ability to hit
- CPU decision to hit
Defensive Awareness
-Pass interceptions
-Reaction time for defensively deflecting passes away
-For CPU, more effort on when backchecking
Discipline
- Takes fewer penalties, for humans this affects calls that would randomly occur on hits (like elbows)
Face- offs
-Better chance of winning face- offs
Shot Blocking
-Bad shot blockers get the standing shot block, good ones get the sliding one which reduces the screen effect.
Aggressiveness
-Tendency of CPU player to body check
-No effect on human.
Athleticism Attributes
Acceleration
- Forward acceleration
Agility
-Turning ability
Speed
-Top speed
Toughness
-Fighting ability
Endurance
-Recover from fatigue more quickly
Durability
- Ability to withstand injuries
GOALIE ATTRIBUTE EFFECTS
Goalie Reflex Attributes
Angles
-How far out the goalie comes to challenge
-Quickness reacting to a pass
Breakaway
-Modifies save ability on breakaways (essentially a modifier on Agility for this case only)
Five hole
Glove High
Glove Low
Stick High
Stick Low
-Quickness making saves to the respective region
Goalie Puck Control Attributes
Passing
- Goalie pass and clearance strength
Poke Checking
-Likelihood of the goalie attempting a poke check (CPU only)
Puck Playing
- How aggressively the goalie will go out to play a loose puck
Rebound Control
-Modifies how far the puck bounces off the goalie when it hits him
Shot Recovery
-How quickly the goalie gets up when after being down - currently no effect
Goalie Athleticism Attributes
Agility
-Quickness making saves in general, combines with region attribs (5-hole, glove high, glove low, stick high, stick low)
- Acceleration moving around the crease
Aggressiveness
-Should be how far he comes out to challenge, but it is not working currently because it is tied to Angles instead
Durability
-Not used in game because goalies do not get injured currently
Endurance
-Not used in game
Speed
-Speed moving in the crease and when skating
Vision
-Reduces the likelihood of the goalie being screened
SLIDER EFFECTS
Basic
Game Speed
-Makes everything in the game faster
Puck Control
-How easily players lose the puck
Fight Difficulty
-Damage done by CPU punches
Fatigue Effect
-How much fatigue effects skating attributes (Speed, Acceleration and Agility)
AI Learning
-AI player (on human or CPU team) adjustment to repetitious success
-0 means it is off altogether
Skating
Fat igue Recovery
-Rate of recovery of energy when idle on the ice, on the bench and at stoppages of play
Player Acceleration
-Scales the acceleration of all players
Checking
Hitti ng Power
-Ease of getting big hits
Aggression
-Broken, does nothing
Poke Effectiveness
-Ease of successfully poke checking the puck away
Passing
Pass Speed
-Puck speed on passes
Saucer Pass Speed
-Puck speed on saucer passes (RT)
Pass Interceptions
-Global modifier on the chance of pass interceptions for both teams
Goalie Passing
-Modifies the effect of the goalie passing attribute, making goalies pass harder and CPU goalies more likely to make long passes
Shooting
Shot P ower
-Global scale on shot power for both teams
Shot Accuracy
-Global scale on accuracy for both teams
Shot Blocking
- Global scale on Tendency of players to block shots for both teams
Defense
Hook Effectiveness
-Not used
Penalty Shot Frequency
-Modifies how likely an infraction that is evaluated as a penalty shot is to actually get called a penalty shot
Goalie Cover Puck Frequency
-Makes goalies want to cover up the puck more
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