With Patrick Kane in the midst of an investigation for an alleged rape, EA Sports announced today that the company will no longer feature him on the cover of NHL 16, nor will he be a spokesperson for the game. Here’s the statement via Twitter.
Official statement regarding Patrick Kane. pic.twitter.com/MVurUYOHT8
— #NHL18 (@EASPORTSNHL) August 12, 2015
Here’s a look at what the cover was supposed to look like:
Play Together. Win Together. The cover athletes for #NHL16! pic.twitter.com/FYnl7fvgF3
— #NHL18 (@EASPORTSNHL) June 25, 2015
Kane was scheduled to appear on the game with teammate Jonathan Toews, but with the troubling allegations they took the route of disassociating themselves with the Chicago Blackhawks star. Presumably, it will just be Toews appearing on the next version of the game.
This isn’t the first time an NHL cover star has been removed from the game, as Dany Heatley who appeared on a large amount of copies of NHL 2004 was replaced by Joe Sakic after being involved in an accident which killed teammate Dan Snyder.
We’ll keep you updated should more news break.