The Dallas Stars are heading to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and a huge component of their success so far has been their captain, Jamie Benn. So it shouldn't be a surprise that he's being considered as the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 17. Problem is, he's got to beat seven other players in a poll for that honor.
EA launched their NHL 17 Cover Vote page today, and on the poll are eight players -- one for each of the eight national teams competing in the World Cup of Hockey. Jamie Benn is representing Team Canada on that list.
To vote, people can go to NHL.com/CoverVote or just head to Twitter and tweet with the hashtag #NHL17Benn. Or whatever lesser athlete you'd like to vote for, because apparently that's an option.
Benn is up against Joe Pavelski (Team USA), Jakub Voracek (Team Czech Republic), Aleksander Barkov (Team Finland), Vladimir Tarasenko (Team Russia), Victor Hedman (Team Sweden), Anze Kopitar (Team Europe) and Connor McDavid (Team North America).
Look, I know, it's tempting to chant, "USA! USA!" and cast a vote for Pavelski. But what have the San Jose Sharks ever done for you, huh? That's right: Nothing. In fact, if things go well and the Stars move forward in the playoffs again, there's a chance they'll battle the Sharks on the road to the Stanley Cup Finals.
So do the right thing. Vote Benn.
If Benn wins, it will be the first time a Stars player has graced the cover of a hockey video game since Marty Turco was on the front of NHL 2K6.
If you care about the video game itself, EA has also released a new "vision" trailer, though it doesn't show much. We should learn more about NHL 17 this summer.
