Patrick Sharp only beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne once this season.
But although his Chicago Blackhawks bowed out unceremoniously earlier this week to the upstart Phoenix Coyotes, Sharp and Rinne have one more battle remaining before the season ends. The NHLers are pitted against each other in EA Sports' round of 16 as the video-game manufacturer asks fans to select the next cover boy for their upcoming NHL13 release.
The race began with 60 players, who were whittled down to the top 32. Sharp then finished in the top 16 in the Round of 32, after beating out teammate Duncan Keith to earn the Blackhawks nod.
Rinne, named on Wednesday as one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, is looking to become the first goaltender since 1997 to grace the video game franchise’s cover.
Sharp finished the 2011-12 NHL season tied for 22nd in league scoring with 33 goals and 69 points in 74 games.
Rinne topped all goalies with 43 wins and had a 2.39 goals against average and .923 save percentage with five shutouts for the Predators.
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Sharp, good natured as always, has his own favourite in the race.
“Well, I can’t vote for myself, so I think you’ve got to keep along with the theme of the young players, like John Tavares of the Islanders. I think he’s a pretty skilled guy and I think he’s a lot better than he gets credit for,” Sharp said in an EA Sports promo.
“And I think he’s going to be a huge star in the league.”
The 30-year-old Sharp wasn’t seeing a lot of love from his teammates. Well, not all of them, at least.
Nicklas Hjalmarsson picked Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk as his choice, while Viktor Stalberg, on the other hand, went with New York Rangers goalie and fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist.
Bryan Bickell, however, stuck with his Chicago compatriot.
“I think if you can get Sharp’s smiling face on there, it would be kind of neat. I wouldn’t mind seeing Sharpie out there. He’s a good candidate, I think,” Bickell said.
Voting begins May 3 at www.NHL.com/covervote. The winner will be unveiled June 20 in Las Vegas at the NHL awards banquet.
Other championship match-ups pit Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux of Hearst against Montreal’s P.K. Subban; Giroux’s teammate Scott Hartnell against Boston sophomore Tyler Seguin; Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin will take on Tampa’s Steven Stamkos in the marquee battle of the round; and Los Angeles sniper Anze Kopitar will go against St. Louis Blues forward David Perron in the competition and in Round 2 of the NHL playoffs.
On the other side of the bracket it’s Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk taking on St. Louis’ T.J. Oshie, Lundqvist up against Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson and Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle trying to oust Tavares.
The winner of the Sharp/Rinne contest will take on the Tavares/Eberle winner in the next round. Voting for this round runs through May 10.
