Claude Giroux will be unable to defend his 2013 cover, as Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek represent Philly. (Michael Perez/AP)

By Allan Muir

On some level, everyone recognizes that the cover athlete for a video game matters about as much as a vice-presidential running mate, right? A game, especially one in a long-running series like EA Sports’ NHL brand, sells itself on its own merits. They could probably slap a stick figure on the front and sell exactly as many copies as they would if it featured Sidney Crosby.

But they can’t put Sid on the front every year — things would get a little confusing if they did — and the NHL and  NHLPA licenses demand that a current player wearing his team’s logo must be prominently featured. They’re fussy about that sort of thing.

So credit the marketing whizzes at EA Sports for turning a meaningless decision into an annual event guaranteed to get hardcore hockey fans and hockey gamers all worked up ahead of the product’s September release.

The online voting to find a successor to Claude Giroux as the cover athlete for EA’s NHL ’14 began Monday with 60 players, two from each team, vying for your love. From there, the field will be winnowed down to 30 team reps plus two wild cards based on most votes earned in a losing effort. That will create a 32-player bracket-style tournament from which a winner eventually will be crowned.

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There was a bigger police presence outside the United Center in Chicago on Monday night. (Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

Last week, the Nashville Predators announced that they would wand every 10th person entering Bridgestone Arena as part of a new league-mandated security policy.

Those efforts were ramped up considerably in the wake of the bombings at Monday’s Boston Marathon, with one local TV station reporting that bomb-sniffing dogs were dispatched to the Preds’ arena prior to last night’s game against the Canucks.

And that’s probably the way things are going to be, for a while anyway.

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Courtesy of EA Sports

One pic. That’s it. That’s all EA Sports is giving us ahead of Monday’s roll out of the next edition of the only sports video game that matters.

But it is pretty sweet, right?

So what do you think? Drool worthy? Or are you, like me, too busy wondering what’s going on to the left of this digitized Dion Phaneuf-Tomas Plekanec collision that’s drawing the attention of the entire crowd?

When we find out more, we’ll pass it along.

Flyers scout Patrick Burke has been leading an historic movement for inclusion in sports. (Christopher Pasatieri/Getty)

By Allan Muir

Well, that didn’t take long.

About an hour after the news broke that the NHL and NHLPA have officially partnered with the You Can Play Project, I got an email from a woman who promised never to watch hockey again as long as it “promotes the homosexual agenda.”

Lady, you won’t be missed.

I learned long ago there’s no arguing with someone like that. You can’t tell anyone what to believe. Just like the best intentions of the league and the PA can’t force hockey players to be accepting of a gay teammate.

But you can try to cultivate an environment where inclusion is the stated goal and a player’s ability to contribute to a team’s success on and off the ice makes a non-issue out of his sexual orientation.

And that’s where this partnership stands as a watershed moment. This isn’t about the “homosexual agenda,” whatever that is. YCP isn’t about gay marriage or gay adoption or gays on the international space station. It’s really about a single, simple, perfectly worded idea: If you can play, you can play.

I usually steer clear of canned quotes, but this one from Ron Hainsey really hits the mark.

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Former Ranger Sean Avery has called for John Tortorella to be fired. (Jonathan Kozub, Getty Images)

When he’s not starring on E!’s Fashion Police or ripping off Charlie Sheen’s catchphrases, professional lightning rod Sean Avery sets aside some time to follow his old club, the New York Rangers.

And like most of the team’s fans, he’s not too happy with the way things are going of late. In fact, the team’s listless 3-0 loss to Montreal tonight inspired a rather pointed suggestion for Rangers’ GM Glen Sather regarding the future employment of coach John Tortorella.

Avery, always on the cutting edge, decided to shared it on Twitter:

Fire this CLOWN, his players hate him and wont play for his BS…. @imseanavery is #winning—
Sean Avery (@imseanavery) March 31, 2013

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By Allan Muir

Ask anyone who’s experienced it first hand. There’s something magical about the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament.

The build-up. The crowds. The intensity. The chance to earn life-long bragging rights.

And, of course, the flow.

For the third year in a row, YouTube user Pulltabproductions11 has compiled his top-10 list of the best hockey hair on display in the tournament. And it’s kind of a big deal.

Like, nearly a half-million views in less than a week big.

As someone who has crammed some amazingly bad salads under a helmet in his day, this is a video I can get behind. And so should you.

Just remember to respect the tuh-sunami.

By Allan Muir

I ran into a member of a Western Conference coaching staff at a pee-wee hockey game last summer. While watching his kid’s team whip mine, we got to talking about unrestricted free agents his team might be interested in. “I’ll tell you who I really would have liked to get,” he said. “Chris Kelly. The guy plays the game the right way.”

The Bruins understood that as well and re-signed the versatile forward before he hit the market. Kelly might not get a lot of press (alright, he doesn’t get any press), but he has been a glue guy for that team ever since arriving from Ottawa. He competes, he wins faceoffs, he’s great on the PK and he can chip in offensively. Guy does it all.

That’s why the news today that he was lost indefinitely after fracturing his shinbone in a violent but accidental collision with good friend Chris Neil of the Senators signifies a major loss to the B’s. Best-case estimates suggest he could be back in six weeks, which would be just ahead of the playoffs, but there’s no guarantee. And being off skates that long? He’s going to be a step slow for a bit.

For now, Boston will call on Rich Peverley to center the third line. He performed well in the loss to the Pens last night, winning 10 of 13 draws. Carl Soderberg could help. He’ll arrive as soon as his team is eliminated from the Swedish Elite League playoffs. Top prospect Ryan Spooner will also get a look–he was recalled on an emergency basis today.

But just in case they falter, you have to think GM Peter Chiarelli is already looking for some insurance for a line that only recently was rounding into form after a slow start.

Where would you rank a power play that could unleash Hall of Famers Jari Kurri, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier? (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Yesterday, as part of SI.com’s Power Week, I ranked my top 10 NHL power forwards of all time. Today, it’s on to the power play.

I’ve always thought that the effectiveness of a power play is directly proportional to the fear it inspires.

The best  don’t simply score goals every third chance or so. They’re a looming specter that buys time and space during 40-odd minutes of even strength play — a constant, overhanging threat that forces defenders to hesitate, to keep sticks and elbows to themselves in order to not take the trip to the box that their coach specifically warned them to avoid.
It’s been a few years since the NHL has seen a truly frightening power play, but there have been some holy terrors in the past.

Click here for my 10 greatest in league history:

By Allan Muir

Tough news tonight for Canadian music fans. Stompin’ Tom Connors will stomp no more.

The country music legend–and closet punk–died today of natural causes according to a post on his website. He was 77.

American hockey fans may not recognize the name, but they’ll definitely know his most famous work. ‘The Hockey Song’, also known as ‘The Good Old Hockey Game,’ is a singalong staple at NHL and minor league rinks.

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Late-blooming goaltender Viktor Fasth, 30, was 27 when he reeived his first contract in the Swedish Elite League. (Danny Murphy/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

Well, that was Fasth. (Pardon the pun of the day.)

The Anaheim Ducks have apparently seen all they need to know that Viktor Fasth has a future in the organization. The team announced this afternoon that it had signed the 30-year-old rookie sensation to a two-year contract extension worth a reported $5.8 million. The deal will pay him $2.4 million next season and $3.4 million in 2014-15.

Fasth has proved to be a bargain this season at $1 million, with a record-setting 8-0-0 start, 1.78 GAA and .933 save percentage.

Nine games might seem like a pretty thin limb to hang that can of salary on, but the team thinks his track record speaks for itself.

“Viktor has proven himself not only this year in the NHL, but the previous two seasons as the top goaltender in Sweden,” Ducks GM Bob Murray said in a press release. “We are pleased to be able to keep him and feel fortunate to have two top NHL goaltenders going forward.”

Going forward might be the key. The team also has Jonas Hiller on the books for $4.5 million this season and next, so he’ll be a free agent heading into the summer of 2014. Fasth’s deal sets him up to succeed Hiller as the team’s No. 1 at that point…if he hasn’t already.

It also sets Fasth up as a natural bridge between Hiller and top prospect John Gibson. The MVP of the 2013 World Junior Championship was Anaheim’s second-round pick (39th overall) in 2011 and is on the fast track to the NHL. The Ducks also have Igor Bobkov and Danish sensation Frederik Andersen in the system, giving them one of the deepest pools of talent at the position.