The vote for NHL 17 cover athlete has been going on for a while, but now EA has announced the winner of the cover spot at the 2016 NHL awards as promised. The cover athlete for NHL 17 will be none other than St. Louis Blues Forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
According to the press release from EA, over six million votes were cast on Twitter and the NHL website before Tarasenko was selected as a winner. “It’s an incredible honor to represent my teammates and all the Blues fans around the world on the cover this year,” Tarasenko said of the experience. “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.”
During the event, EA also announced that an open beta would be coming to PS4 and Xbox One starting on July 28, but you can register now. The beta will feature a total of 3 playable modes, with players who sign up to become an NHL 17 Insider receiving early access to the beta. No word on how early those insiders will be getting in.
If you’re curious as to what modes you’ll be seeing in the beta, Online Versus, EA Sports Hockey League, and Hockey Ultimate Team will all be playable in the beta when it launches next month. The beta will also offer players access to the Creation Zone.
The beta will run from July 28 to August 4, so you’ve got a few days to get in and do some testing. The full game, meanwhile, will see a release on September 13 later this year. This news also comes with a new trailer for the game, which you can check out up top.