Oilers C Connor McDavid has been named the "cover athlete" for EA Sports' "NHL 18," marking the "first time an Oiler has ever been featured on the cover," according to Steven Loung of SPORTSNET.ca. A special regional cover featured Oilers RW Jordan Eberle in '14. In addition to being the first Oilers player featured on the national cover, McDavid also is the "first player from a Canadian team featured on the cover" of the franchise since Senators D Dion Phaneuf appeared on it while with the Flames in '09. Along with the unveiling of the cover athlete, EA Sports also "showed off a brand new gameplay trailer for the upcoming hockey simulation." Earlier this month, EA Sports first "teased NHL 18 with a virtual look" at Maple Leafs C Mitch Marner. That was "apparently a red herring to put fans off the scent of who the real cover star was going to be" (
SPORTSNET.ca, 6/21).
PASSING THE TORCH: The AP's Greg Beacham noted McDavid last night in Las Vegas claimed the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP and won the Ted Lindsay Award for being the "most outstanding performer" in a player vote. The honors "capped a remarkable sophomore season for the 20-year-old ... who won his first scoring title and led the Oilers back to the Stanley Cup playoffs after an 11-year absence." McDavid is the "third-youngest player" to win the Hart Trophy. Only Penguins C Sidney Crosby and Hockey HOFer Wayne Gretzky "claimed the Hart as teenagers" (AP, 6/21). The CP's Jonas Siegel wrote the page has "now begun to turn" from Crosby and Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin to McDavid and Maple Leafs C Auston Matthews. Like Crosby before him, McDavid won the Hart Trophy in his second season, and he was a "reason to stop and stare at the TV any time he appeared on screen." Matthews in his debut with the Leafs "needed less than two periods to become must-watch himself, with the first four-goal debut ever." Matthews won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, becoming the first Leafs player to do so "in 51 years." Crosby and Ovechkin "quickly dragged their teams in the NHL’s elite class and McDavid and Matthews already have their clubs pointed in similar directions." McDavid led the Oilers to their "first playoff appearance in more than a decade and a first round win" over the Sharks. Matthews was the "guiding force in the Leafs’ second post-season appearance" since '04. No two teams, "arguably, boast more long-term potential for Stanley Cups" than the Oilers and Maple Leafs, and it is "because of the two stars leading the charge." The league will "draw more eyeballs to various screens as a result and more dollars to the coffers because of tickets and merchandise" (CP, 6/21).
