Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane won the Stanley Cup and now the “NHL 16” cover.
EA Sports, creators of the popular video game series, made the announcement Wednesday night as the NHL awards were revealed in Las Vegas.
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Chicago Blackhawks haters weren’t happy about EA Sports’ decision and flooded the Internet with complaints, including wondering why there was no cover vote, which Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron won last year. But Toews revealed to USA TODAY’s For The Win that the decision was made last week while the Blackhawks celebrated with the Stanley Cup on the United Center ice.
“We had to take the Cup and try to get a quick picture with it in the corner, and that’s when I realized that they were telling us we were (really) going to be on the cover of the video game,” Toews said. “It was all too much to take in. It was pretty crazy, and that was just another thing you threw in the mix with how amazing that moment was.”
The cover photo says it all. Toews and Kane are the champs, and to the victors go the spoils. In this day and age, those spoils are video game covers. It’s the second such honor for Kane (“NHL 10”) and Toews (“NHL 11”).
“I just hope the gamers out there aren’t getting sick of us,” Toews said.
Based on the initial reaction, no such luck.
