Playing my first  NHL 10 online game yesterday I noticed one big change (besides boardplay and fps fights). In NHL 09 cross-ice passes was a low-risk play. They got through way too often and the game pretty much rewarded dangerous passes. With the new 360-degree passing engine you take a big risk attempting cross ice passes. You're better off passing the puck around your opponents or dumping the puck down in the offensive zone. Dump-style hockey is much easier now that you can nail opponents to the board, and thus a high and aggressive forecheck works better than in NHL 09. In NHL 09, clogging the zone around your own blue line, seemed to be the most effective way to regain puck control. But now, when dump and chase hockey is more rewarding, opponents can take advantage of you having all your players, pretty much still, around your red line. At least that's what I think in theory. I have yet to find out if this is actually the case.