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Fans to vote who suffers the potential misfortune of being the NHL 13 coverboy

NHL 13

Today, the NHL and EA Sports announced a collaborative initiative to select who will grace the cover of NHL 13 -- a voting campaign, brought to you by NHL.com and BlackBerry!

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.”

The opening-round matchups are as follows:

Eastern Conference

Bruins - Tuukka Rask vs. Tyler Seguin
Canadiens - P.K. Subban vs. Tomas Plekanec
Capitals - John Carlson vs. Brooks Laich
Devils - Ilya Kovalchuk vs. Adam Larsson
Flyers - Claude Giroux vs. Scott Hartnell
Hurricanes - Eric Staal vs. Jeff Skinner
Islanders - John Tavares vs. Michael Grabner
Jets - Evander Kane vs. Andrew Ladd
Lightning - Steven Stamkos vs. Victor Hedman
Maple Leafs - Phil Kessel vs. Tyler Bozak
Panthers - Stephen Weiss vs. Tomas Fleischmann
Penguins - Evgeni Malkin vs. Marc-Andre Fleury
Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist vs. Brad Richards
Sabres - Derek Roy vs. Thomas Vanek
Senators - Erik Karlsson vs. Jason Spezza

Western Conference

Avalanche - Matt Duchene vs. Gabriel Landeskog
Blackhawks - Patrick Sharp vs. Duncan Keith
Blue Jackets - R.J. Umberger vs. Ryan Johansen
Blues - T.J. Oshie vs. David Perron
Canucks - Henrik Sedin vs. Alex Burrows
Coyotes - Shane Doan vs. Keith Yandle
Ducks - Corey Perry vs. Jonas Hiller
Flames - Mikael Backlund vs. Matt Stajan
Kings - Anze Kopitar vs. Drew Doughty
Oilers - Jordan Eberle vs. Taylor Hall
Predators - David Legwand vs. Pekka Rinne
Red Wings - Pavel Datsyuk vs. Jimmy Howard
Sharks - Logan Couture vs. Brent Burns
Stars - Loui Eriksson vs. Jamie Benn
Wild - Mikko Koivu vs. Niklas Backstrom

If someone hasn’t already started the #CoverboyStajan hashtag, I’d like to now.

Finally, I’d be remiss without mentioning the rich and colorful history of the EA Sports NHL Curse* -- you know, the one where a player agrees to appear on the cover, then watches his career go in the tank.

The most notable victim is former Philadelphia Flyer Eric Lindros. After appearing on the cover of NHL 99 he suffered a collapsed lung, was stripped of his captaincy, missed 10 weeks with a concussion, returned to action...and was then crushed by Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

In closing, good luck to this year’s competitors!

*Yes, I know Steve Stamkos was on the NHL 12 cover and has 55 goals this year.