EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts to distribute video games based on sports.
They have created, produced and distributed video games featuring the National Hockey League players, teams, and arenas since 1991.
The cover spot had become a status symbol of sorts as many of the top players in the league have appeared on the cover of either standard releases or specialized local covers for certain markets.
== Installments ==
Title 	Year	Platforms 	Cover athletes, worldwide 	Cover athletes, specific regions
NHL Hockey 	1991	SMD 	 	–
NHLPA Hockey '93 	1992	SMD, SNES 	 	–
NHL '94 	1993	DOS, SCD, SMD, SNES 	 	–
NHL 95 	1994	DOS, GB, GG, SMD, SNES 	 	–
NHL 96 	1995	DOS, GB, SMD, SNES 	 	–
NHL 97 	1996	DOS, PS1, Sat, SMD, SNES, Win	John Vanbiesbrouck (Florida) 	–
NHL 98 	1997	PS1, Sat, SMD, SNES, Win 	Peter Forsberg (Colorado) 	–
NHL 99 	1998	N64, PS1, Win 	Eric Lindros (Philadelphia) 	–
NHL 2000 	1999	GBC, PS1, Win 	Chris Pronger (St. Louis) 	
NHL 2001 	2000	PS1, PS2, Win 	Owen Nolan (San Jose) 	
NHL 2002 	2001	GBA, PS2, Win, Xbox 	Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh) 	–
NHL 2003 	2002	GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox 	Jarome Iginla (Calgary) 	
NHL 2004 	2003	GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox 	 	–
NHL 2005 	2004	GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox 	Markus Naslund (Vancouver) 	Olli Jokinen (Florida)
NHL 06 	2005	GCN, PS2, Win, Xbox 	Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay) 	Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago)
NHL 07 	2006	X360, PS2, PSP, Win, Xbox 	Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) 	
NHL 08 	2007	PS3, X360, PS2, Win 	Eric Staal (Carolina) 	
NHL 09 	2008	PS3, X360, PS2, Win 	Dion Phaneuf (Calgary)Dion Phaneuf named worldwide cover athlete of EA's NHL 09 [press release]. Redwood City: Electronic Arts Inc.; 2008-06-09 [cited 2010-06-15].	
3 on 3 NHL Arcade 	2009	PS3, X360 	None 	–
NHL 10 	2009	PS3, X360 	Patrick Kane (Chicago) 	
NHL 11 	2010	PS3, X360 	Jonathan Toews (Chicago)EA Sports. Stanley Cup Champion Jonathan Toews the New Face of EA SPORTS NHL 11 [press release]. 21 June 2010 [cited 21 June 2010]. 	
NHL Slapshot 	2010	Wii 	Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton) 	–
NHL 12 	2011	PS3, X360 	Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) 	
NHL 13 	2012	PS3, X360 	Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) 	
NHL 14 	2013	PS3, X360 	Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) 	
NHL 15 	2014	PS4, XBO, PS3, X360 	Patrice Bergeron (Boston) 	
NHL 16 	2015	PS4, XBO 	Jonathan Toews (Chicago) 	Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota Wild)
NHL: Legacy Edition	2015	PS3, X360 	None (Stanley Cup pictured instead) 	–
NHL 17 	2016	PS4, XBO 	Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis) 	Nino Niederreiter
NHL 18 	2017	PS4, XBO 	Connor McDavid (Edmonton) 	Roman Josi (Nashville) (The Josi cover was officially released as a downloadable cover by EA Sports, but the McDavid cover was sold at retail in Switzerland)
NHL 19 	2018	PS4, XBO 	P. K. Subban (Nashville) 	Patrik Laine (Winnipeg) William Nylander (Toronto)
NHL 20 	2019	PS4, XBO 	Auston Matthews (Toronto) 	Patrik Laine (Winnipeg) Elias Pettersson (Vancouver)
NHL 21 	2020	PS4, XBO 	Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) 	-
NHL 22 	2021	PS4, XBO 	Auston Matthews (Toronto) 	–
: as NHL Hockey
: Joe Thornton was originally chosen, but EA switched to Dany Heatley after Thornton was accused of assaulting two police officers. Thornton's cover was never produced. After the 2003–04 season had begun, Heatley was involved in a car crash that killed teammate Dan Snyder, prompting EA to switch covers to one featuring Joe Sakic.
: Patrick Kane was originally slated to share the cover with teammate Jonathan Toews, however, following sexual assault claims made against Kane, he was dropped from the cover.
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Category:Misc.