The honor of NHL 17 cover athlete will go to St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
Tarasenko won the cover thanks to millions of votes from fans across Twitter and Facebook.
“It’s an incredible honor to represent my teammates and all the Blues fans around the world on the cover this year,” Tarasenko. “As a player, it’s a big deal to be fan selected for something like the Cover Vote, and I’m excited to be involved in the game this year.”
The cover came alongside the first gameplay trailer for NHL 17. Although it didn’t show or announce any new game modes or in-game mechanics, the footage captured appears to be running from the in-game engine.
Players can register now for the public beta access, which will let players get their hands on the game July 28, way ahead of it’s fall launch date. The beta will include 3 game modes; Online Versus, EA SPORTS Hockey League, and Hockey Ultimate Team, and access to the creation zone, which lets players create and customize their own players.
NHL 17 launches for the Xbox One and Playstation 4 September 13. Players who pre-order the game now will receive exclusive in game goal celebrations inspired from NHL ’94.