Steven Stamkos Graces Cover Of NHL 12

During the 2011 NHL Awards Wednesday night in Las Vegas, the announcement was made that the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 12 video game is none other than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos. The 2008 first overall draft pick has notched an amazing 96 goals over the past two seasons, scoring 51 in just his sophomore campaign in 2009-10 to take claim to the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. He breaks the two-year streak of Chicago Blackhawks players - Patrick Kane in 2010 and Jonathan Toews in 2011 - adorning the cover of what is a constantly improving franchise under the EA Sports umbrella.

NHL 12 will be available for Playstation 3 and XBox 360 on September 13.