A lot of people really don't know what the "Realism" 2K series was than EA's. With the 2K series games, it realistic due to the fact that it feels like and looks like you're playing that sport, since it produces realistic stats and just feels right.
With EA, they catch you by deploying flashy animation and and the skill shots?? How often or not you see NHL players do skill shots like those seen in NHL 06?? EA's games are more about the finesse of the sport, and if you're a realistic junkie like me, that doesn't really interest me all that much. You know why? One of my friends told me that EA doesn't want injuries on its game. So you rarely get any injuries in MADDEN

. Even though football has got to be one of the most physically demanding sport out there. I went through one season where the league only suffered from 10 injuries
With NHL 06, users are complaining about the injuries only being sore wrists or bruised hips, but no broken, fractured, lacirated injuries. Why? Because EA doesn't want to represent the grimmer side of playing in a highly competitive sport.
And I mean, if you play a game of NHL 06', and watch a hockey game afterwards, you'll probably be surprised at how sloppy the game really is in real life...but EA's always giving you picture perfect skating, dribbling, tackling and it's just not realistic in that sense. You can tell if a game is realistic by not it's animation, but stats, gameplay and how it represents the REAL thing in REAL life.