After going away from the traditional cover vote for the NHL video game franchise last year, EA Sports is back with one for this fall's "NHL 17." Eight players have been selected to represent their NHL and World Cup of Hockey teams and they'll be going head to head over three rounds of voting:
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Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks/United States) vs. Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings/Europe).
Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers/Finland) vs. Jamie Benn (Dallas Stars/Canada).
Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers/North America) vs. Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers/Czech Republic).
Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues/Russia) vs. Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning/Sweden).
First-round of voting is open at the official site for the "NHL 17" cover vote and will run through 3 p.m. ET on May 2. The second round begins on May 3 and the final starts May 10. The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards show on June 22.
"NHL 17" will include a new mode dedicated to the eight-team World Cup of Hockey tournament taking place in September, and will allow users to relocate teams and create arenas in the Be a GM franchise mode.
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, has co-founded the new site HitThePass.com, hosts the Press Row Podcast, and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.