Canadian hockey star Sarah Nurse will be the first woman to feature on the cover of EA Sports’ NHL video game, the company announced Wednesday.
EA Sports will include the IIHF women’s national team rosters in the game for the first time. While the video game company added IIHF women’s rosters to “NHL 22” as an update after the initial release, the game never before has featured women’s rosters from the start.
The latest edition will mark the occasion with Nurse joining NHL star Trevor Zegras on the front of the package.
What’s better than one cover athlete?Your two official #NHL23 cover athletes @tzegras11 and @nursey16 ⭐️⭐️See the full reveal tomorrow ➡️ https://t.co/QhoZN09ldb pic.twitter.com/06XIVh92ud— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 24, 2022
What’s better than one cover athlete?Your two official #NHL23 cover athletes @tzegras11 and @nursey16 ⭐️⭐️See the full reveal tomorrow ➡️ https://t.co/QhoZN09ldb pic.twitter.com/06XIVh92ud
“It is such a tremendous honor to be the first woman on the cover of the EA Sports’ NHL franchise,” Nurse said in a news release. “Hockey is really for everybody and I’m excited that ‘NHL 23’ is celebrating the diversity and inclusivity of the sport. I hope that the increased representation of women in such a prominent game will inspire young girls everywhere to know that there is a place for them in hockey.”
Nurse powered Canada to the gold medal at the Beijing Games earlier this year with an Olympic-record 18 points. She also is a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.
EA Sports also will feature rosters from the top women’s soccer leagues in England and France on its next FIFA game, which comes out Sept. 30. Chelsea star Sam Kerr is a cover athlete for that game.