Sponsored by BlackBerry, Cover Athlete Decided By Fan Vote for the
First Time Ever in the History of the EA SPORTS NHL Series
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) announced that starting today, fans
around the world have the opportunity to shape the face of the EA
SPORTS™ NHL® franchise, by participating in the first ever EA
SPORTS NHL® Cover Vote Campaign —
sponsored by BlackBerry® and hosted on NHL.com.
The voting process will consist of two preliminary rounds, followed
by a 16-player bracket as a field of 60 NHL players is narrowed down to
one. The winning player will be unveiled as the EA SPORTS NHL® 13
Cover Athlete at the 2012 NHL Awards™ on June 20 at the Wynn Las Vegas
in Las Vegas.
The first round of competition pits teammate against teammate and starts
today and runs until April 11, the first day of the 2012 Stanley Cup®
Playoffs. Fans can vote for their favorite player to represent their
team in the next round.
NHL 13 Cover Athlete Voting
Schedule:
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March 29 — April 11: Round of 60: one representative from each team
plus two wild card selections advance*
-
April 12 — April 22: 32-Player Leaderboard: fans vote for their
favorite 16 candidates; top 16 vote-getters advance
-
April 24 — June 4: Round of 16: single-elimination playoff bracket
decides NHL 13 cover athlete
Fans worldwide are able to vote an unlimited number of times and are
encouraged to vote as often as possible at NHL.com/CoverVote
to ensure their favorite player advances through the rounds. Fans can
also show their support by tweeting their picks using #NHL13Cover
on Twitter. Visit the EA
SPORTS NHL Facebook page for insider updates and additional content.
"The EA SPORTS NHL Franchise has had a rich tradition of outstanding
cover athletes including Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup Winners, NHL
All-Stars and Hall of Fame Members," said David Le, Marketing Director,
EA SPORTS. "With fans selecting the cover athlete for NHL 13 they
now control who gets to join that prestigious club."
"Being the EA SPORTS NHL cover athlete is an honor that is coveted by
many NHL players," said Adam Larry, NHLPA Director of Licensing. "With
the EA SPORTS NHL 13 cover athlete being selected by the fans,
the honor is now even greater. This vote campaign will be exciting for
both the players and the fans, as they will be engaging online, and
through social media, while the bracket narrows towards the fans'
selection for the cover of NHL 13."
The star-studded list of candidates participating in the campaign
features NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin, 2011 Hart Trophy winner Corey
Perry, NHL All-Stars and some of the most popular players in the NHL.
The complete list of matchups can be found below:
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Eastern Conference
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Bruins
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Tuukka Rask vs. Tyler Seguin
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Lightning
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Steven Stamkos vs. Victor Hedman
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Canadiens
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P.K. Subban vs. Tomas Plekanec
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Maple Leafs
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Phil Kessel vs. Tyler Bozak
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Capitals
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John Carlson vs. Brooks Laich
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Panthers
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Stephen Weiss vs. Tomas Fleischmann
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Devils
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Ilya Kovalchuk vs. Adam Larsson
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Penguins
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Evgeni Malkin vs. Marc-Andre Fleury
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Flyers
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Claude Giroux vs. Scott Hartnell
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Rangers
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Henrik Lundqvist vs. Brad Richards
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Hurricanes
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Eric Staal vs. Jeff Skinner
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Sabres
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Derek Roy vs. Thomas Vanek
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Islanders
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John Tavares vs. Michael Grabner
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Senators
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Erik Karlsson vs. Jason Spezza
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Jets
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Evander Kane vs. Andrew Ladd
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Western Conference
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Avalanche
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Matt Duchene vs. Gabriel Landeskog
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Kings
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Anze Kopitar vs. Drew Doughty
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Blackhawks
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Patrick Sharp vs. Duncan Keith
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Oilers
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Jordan Eberle vs. Taylor Hall
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Blue Jackets
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R.J. Umberger vs. Ryan Johansen
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Predators
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David Legwand vs. Pekka Rinne
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Blues
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T.J. Oshie vs. David Perron
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Red Wings
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Pavel Datsyuk vs. Jimmy Howard
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Canucks
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Henrik Sedin vs. Alex Burrows
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Sharks
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Logan Couture vs. Brent Burns
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Coyotes
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Shane Doan vs. Keith Yandle
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Stars
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Loui Eriksson vs. Jamie Benn
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Ducks
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Corey Perry vs. Jonas Hiller
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Wild
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Mikko Koivu vs. Niklas Backstrom
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Flames
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Mikael Backlund vs. Matt Stajan
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"The announcement of the cover athlete has become an event unto itself,
and every year we look to grow the platform and innovate around the
launch," said Keith Wachtel, Senior Vice President Integrated Sales,
NHL. "The creation of the NHL 13 Cover Vote campaign, sponsored
by BlackBerry, does just that by building an exciting new platform for
players to connect with fans while bringing together two of our valued
partners."
Assets:
To download assets, please visit the EA press site at http://info.ea.com.
NHL 13 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver and has not
yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI; visit www.esrb.org
and www.pegi.info
for more information. Become a fan of EA SPORTS NHL on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/easportsnhl
and follow us on Twitter via http://www.twitter.com/easportsnhl.
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs,
forums and game communities, please visit www.easports.com
to connect, share and compete.
EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the
world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive
technology, fan programs and cross-platform digital experiences. EA
SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sports
through industry-leading sports videogames, including Madden NFL
football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball,
NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf, SSX,
and Fight Night boxing. For more information about EA SPORTS,
including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com.
*Wild card selections will be made by EA.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) is a global leader in digital interactive
entertainment. The Company's game franchises are offered as both
packaged goods products and online services delivered through
Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and
tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in
75 countries.
In fiscal 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion.
Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for
critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The
Sims™, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed™, Battlefield, and Mass
Effect™. More information about EA is available at http://info.ea.com.
EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Active, The Sims and Need for Speed are trademarks
of Electronic Arts Inc. Mass Effect is a trademark of EA International
(Studio and Publishing) Ltd. John Madden, NFL, NBA, NHL NCAA, Tiger
Woods, PGA TOUR and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and
used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
NHL® 13 is an Officially Licensed Product of the NHL and the
NHLPA. NHLPA, National Hockey League Players' Association and the NHLPA
logo are trademarks of the NHLPA. © NHLPA. NHL and the NHL Shield are
registered trademarks of the National Hockey League.
NHL, the NHL Shield and the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup are
registered trademarks and NHL Awards name and logo are trademarks of the
National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the
NHL and its teams. © NHL 2012. All Rights Reserved.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols
are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion
Limited. RIM assumes no obligations or liability and makes no
representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any
aspect of any third party products or services.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50221784&lang=en
Justin Del Giudice, 604-456-4199
Communications Specialist
JDelGiudice@ea.com
or
Duke
Indrasigamany, 604-456-3150
Communications Manager
dukei@ea.com
Source: Electronic Arts Inc.
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