VOTE For Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith To Be The NHL 14 Cover Athlete!

Last week, the reveal trailer for the highly anticipated NHL 14 video game was released. Just as EA Sports did last year, they are holding a contest to see what NHL player will grace the cover of this year’s installment, and they’re leaving it up to you! Each team has two possible contenders, and this year’s candidates from the Blackhawks are Patrick Sharp, and Duncan Keith.

picture credit: www.facebook.com/nhlblackhawks

The voting starts with two preliminary rounds, which advances to a 16-player bracket, much like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Speaking of which, the player that generates the most votes throughout this process will be announced as the NHL 14 Cover Athlete during this year’s Stanley Cup Final. According to EA Sports, over 25 million votes were cast last year, with Claude Giroux being the winner.

To vote this year, head on over to http://covervote.nhl.com and submit your ballot. Two more votes can be collected for each player if you use the player-specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays.”

NHL 14 Cover Vote Schedule (From www.EA.com)

Round of 60 – April 22nd-28th: Teammate vs. teammate. One representative from each team plus two wild card selections advance.

32-Player Leaderboard – April 29th -May 5th: Fans vote for their favourite 16 candidates; top 16 vote-getters advance.

16-player Bracket – May 6th – May 26th: Weekly round-by-round, single-elimination playoff bracket decides finalists.

The Finals – May 27th – June 2nd: Winner takes the NHL 14 Cover.

Here are the candidates:

Eastern Conference

Boston Bruins: Tyler Seguin, Zdeno Chara

Montreal Canadiens: P.K. Subban, David Desharnais

Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson

New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur, Adam Henrique

Philidelphia Flyers: Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek

Carolina Hurricanes: Eric Staal, Jordan Staal

New York Islanders: John Tavares, Michael Grabner

Winnipeg Jets: Evander Kane, Andrew Ladd

Tampa Bay Lightning: Teddy Purcell, Victor Hedman

Toronto Maple Leafs: Joffrey Lupul, James van Riemsdyk

Florida Panthers: Kris Versteeg, Brian Campbell

Pittsburgh Penguins :Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang

New York Rangers: Carl Hagelin, Ryan Callahan

Buffalo Sabres: Ryan Miller, Tomas Vanek

Ottawa Senators: Craig Anderson, Milan Michalek

Western Conference

Colorado Avalanche :Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog

Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith

Columbus Blue Jackets :Brandon Dubinsky, Sergei Bobrovsky

St. Louis Blues: Alex Pietrangelo, David Perron

Vancouver Canucks: Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows

Phoenix Coyotes: Keith Yandle, Shane Doan

Anaheim Ducks: Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey

Calgary Flames: Dennis Wideman, Lee Stempniak

L.A. Kings: Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown

Edmonton Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall

Nashville Predators: Brandon Yip, Mike Fisher

Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Howard, Pavel Datsyuk

San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton, Logan Couture

Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen, Jamie Benn

Minnesota Wild: Mikko Koivu, Niklas Backstrom

Only six short days are in between today and the day that the final Blackhawk will be decided! Vote Now!

Who do you think should grace the cover of NHL 14? Let us know on Twitter: @Blackhawk_Up, or Facebook: Blackhawk Up.