Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

[Hockeynut99]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Kinda a cute couple.

[1NE]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

I actually kind of like the idea. Not so much the picture. (if that even is the actual cover they will be using) Both are great players who are two of the top faces of the league right now. I've never understood why people get so worked up about who is on the cover anyway.

[voodoo_magic]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

I actually thought they might do a cover with Toews, Kane and Keith.

Having these guys may be boring for us sim/hardcore players but makes tons of sense to market the game to the casual player.
It's why you don't have some 4th line grinder rep the game your trying to sell.

[bwiggy33]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

I honestly can't believe some of the hatred on here over a damn cover. There's a reason they chose these 2 guys. Some people may not like it but they are the faces of the NHL right now. I know many younger kids right now who are pretending to be Toews and Kane instead of the other stars in the NHL. If this is the case in many other places guess what? This could lead to more copies being sold because that kid is going to go to his/her parents and say I want that game because those 2 are on the cover. I see so many people (kids and young adults) in just MN, walking around with Toews or Kane jersey shirts or for that matter the real jersey. It's annoying but that's what these 2 have done. The NHL doesn't care that the much bigger hockey fans wanted somebody different, or a different team represented on the cover. Hell look at the product they deliver. It's made so that the average person can play the game and have fun. The cover is treated with the same type of mentality. They already know hardcore hockey fans will buy the game if they enjoy the sport that much. It doesn't take a cover to drive a hardcore fan away.

Toews and Kane have done something that I can't recall any other Superstars doing in my lifetime (I'm only 25 though). They have drawn the younger adult/college student to the game. When you hear the stories and see the pictures of Kane partying at Mifflin (I have many friends who were there during this), those people go hell ya he's just like us, other than punching taxi drivers. Same with Toews going to North Dakota and doing his thing. People latched onto these 2 because they act like normal younger adult aged people who have made their mistakes along the way. If I was in marketing, I would be using Toews and Kane for damn near everything that relates to younger adults and kids.

Sorry for the rant in the last paragraph but as much as I'm sick of the Hawks beating the Wild, I absolutely love what Toews and Kane have done for the NHL. They've started a whole new fan base regardless of whether they are bandwagoners or not. It's actually refreshing to see so many newer types of people enjoying the game. It's not 100% comparable, but I do compare it to what Rory, Ricky, and Spieth have done for Golf. It's brought in many younger people to the sport. I honestly think Toews and Kane on the cover could actually lead to more sales.

[AdamJones113]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

The worrying thing for me about the cover (besides the fact that it doesn't look great) is that it clearly was decided very recently. Obviously this wasn't decided until after the Cup (while it may have been mocked-up prior and was selected among many); the decision making is a little questionable in my opinion.

Let me amend this statement. I did a little research and it turns out EA had guys at the Cup to photograph two winners, a plan that would have been conceived of In advance. If Tampa had won, it would have been Stamkos and Johnson instead. They wanted to have the cup on the cover (though this means they need a new celebration, haha).

[Syzchmenev]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Terrible cover.. Hockey players with hats..

[jboe235]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Let me amend this statement. I did a little research and it turns out EA had guys at the Cup to photograph two winners, a plan that would have been conceived of In advance. If Tampa had won, it would have been Stamkos and Johnson instead. They wanted to have the cup on the cover (though this means they need a new celebration, haha).

My second thought after the quality of the picture was if EA has the audacity to feature the cup on the cover, I sure hope that they improve the subpar Stanely Cup celebration.

[Vermin]

For a league that is all about parity these days, you'd think they would spread out the cover athletes a little more. Feels like somebody over there is a 'Hawks fan. From a neutral standpoint, it would be a nice nod to throw something to an up-and-coming team like the Islanders, Predators, Wild, etc.

From a totally biased perspective, the Red Wings have had a good run of success since they were last on the box, Yzerman's back-seat to Cup winner Scott Stevens (4 cups, 24th consecutive playoff appearance this year) and nothing.

[nddurst]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Let me amend this statement. I did a little research and it turns out EA had guys at the Cup to photograph two winners, a plan that would have been conceived of In advance. If Tampa had won, it would have been Stamkos and Johnson instead. They wanted to have the cup on the cover (though this means they need a new celebration, haha).

Agree totally. If the Cup is on the cover, it should be featured prominently in the game. I'm still holding out hope for some sort of "skate with the Cup" feature at some point in this series, although I know it won't be in '16.

As for the players on the cover, I really don't care. Just give us a good game inside the package.

[cmutat17]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Are you kidding me?!?! These guys have already been on the cover. Don't get me wrong I like them, but I would have rather seen someone new like Tavares, or Price. This is a joke!

[King_B_Mack]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Chelsea Dagger, Toews and Kane on the cover, Stanley Cup champions.....the United Center HAS to make it back in the game this year right? I think the last time it was actually in the game was the last time Toews was on the cover for '11

Wouldn't be a good look to have that horrid Hawks home ice in the game with all this stuff EA.

I'm not sure you really understand how marketing works.

If the cover is what's going to sell the game to some, it's going to sell a lot more to Blackhawks fans who would have never bought it before rather than Islanders fans who might have been on the fence.

No doubt on this man. 2 million people turned out for the Blackhawks parade and rally last week. Blackhawks stuff is flying off the shelves in every store in the city. Are 2 million of those fans going to buy NHL 16 now? Probably not all of them, Chicago is on fire for Hawks stuff right now though. It wouldn't surprise me to see a bump in units sold for this series as the odds of people browsing the game stores or their PSNs and Lives for games that have an interest old or new (because of the Hawks) in hockey might give this series a spin. My initial interest in hockey came from playing NHL '94 back in the day.

[no1xdraftpck]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

Any team that has won the cup 3 out of 6 years is going to catch EA's attention. This new "teamwork is everything" slogan goes perfectly with the success Toews and Kane have experienced with each other and the Blackhawks as a whole. It is a bit strange that they would select repeat cover athletes, but I honestly believe they care more about new users than they do about their experienced core players.

Their target audience probably has no idea A) how to pronounce Toews' name correctly, B) Kane and Toews have previously been on the cover before and C) who won the cup in 2013.

[sir psycho]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

It's surprising...it's weird...but I really couldn't care less. I never understood why people get so upset/excited over who's on the cover. Personally, I would have put Tavares on the cover if it was my call, but whatever.

[Kolbe31]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

This was clearly their plan from the beginning, with no cover vote. Promoting team play, what greater team accomplishment than to win the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for EA, planning to use the Stanley Cup champs as the cover didn't work out too great, as everyone has mentioned, Toews and Kane were on recent covers. I'd suspect EA was probably pulling for any of the other 3 teams in the final four to avoid this repetition.

I don't mind the idea, kinda like it actually. What I don't like, is the picture they chose. Just looks weird. They probably could've avoided a lot of criticism if they picked different Blackhawk players as well.

At the end of the day, it's just a picture. I see it once when I buy the game, and then basically never again.

[emericaridr11]

Re: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are the NHL 16 Cover Athletes

So 3 of the last 6 years we have either Kane, Toews or now BOTH...

Not a fan of the repetition

and thats how I feel about the Stanley Cup as well.... so LAME