No, I'm not.
No. NHL 2k8, once you bothered to learn the controls, had amazing controls. The reviews were written by people who apparently had no patience and didn't bother to learn the great controls.
You seem to think that because you love NHL 2008 that somehow NHL 2k8 was a big mess, when it wasn't. The controls were the best of any hockey game ever, I had almost complete control over my player, which is more than I can say about NHL 2008's messy scheme. With some fiddling of the sliders, I was able to get great games with realistic shot totals, realistic scores, and a great playing game that was fun, and challenging. I can't say that about NHL 2008.
I was able to play a game where I had to think and was pressured in the offensive zone, while in 2008 I could stand with the puck and just pass it around for an entire period without being pressured at all. I didn't really have to think much - I could literally grab the puck, skate up the ice, make a move or two and get a shot off. Of course, I had to avoid quite a few moves because of the whole money goal system.
And on note with the checking. So 2k8's was over the top, but it was only from the player - who could just lay off the button... How about that whole hip check thing... You know, the one where you didn't have to have any momentum, but could just basically fly several feet across the ice, getting sucked straight to the player, and then just send them flying?
People seem to have this strange notion that an incredibly flawed NHL 2008 was somehow the king of hockey and could do no wrong, while an incredibly improved 2k8 (from the crap they gave us from 2k4-2k7) was somehow a terrible game. Mostly in part because people didn't bother to learn the controls, which were absolutely incredible once you did, and didn't really bother to find the appropriate settings.
The game wasn't so good out of the box. But once you got everything set up right, it was the best hockey game out there. Even better than 2k3, my previous favorite 2k hockey game.