Who is the cover athlete in NHL 23?

Gracing the cover of a major sports game is a highly coveted position no matter what sport an athlete plays. It’s an indicator that you have reached, or will soon reach, the pinnacle of your sport and that you’re one of the most exciting players to watch.

The same holds true for NHL 23, the next-generation hockey simulator that’s aiming to get people thinking less about cold and snowy nights and more about glitz and glamor—if the palm trees in the background of the cover are anything to go by. This isn’t your father’s hockey and it seems that EA doesn’t want you to think it’s his hockey video game, either.

So, just who are the superstars on the cover of the newest NHL game?

NHL 23 cover athletes revealed

NHL 23 has two athletes on its cover: Anaheim Ducks prodigy Trevor Zegras and Canadian superstar Sarah Nurse.

Nurse is the player who will draw headlines for her inclusion; she’s the first female athlete to be placed on the cover in the publisher’s NHL series, according to EA Sports. She is also only the third black athlete to appear as a cover athlete in the series, following Jarome Iginla on NHL 2003 and P.K. Subban on NHL 19.

Nurse is a two-time Olympic medalist. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she led Canada to a gold medal, and set records for most points and most assists tallied in a women’s tournament in the process. The gold medal goes along with her silver medal from the 2018 Winter Olympics, as well as various collegiate and professional honors.

Nurse is joined by Zegras, an exciting attacker for the Anaheim Ducks. Zegras was the runner-up for the NHL’s rookie of the year after his first full season, and is known for his wizardry while handling the puck.