Sarah Nurse becomes first women’s hockey player to appear on cover of NHL 23

Team Canada forward Sarah Nurse (20) celebrates her goal against the United States during first period women's hockey gold medal game action at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (Ryan Remiorz/CP)

Team Canada star Sarah Nurse has made history as the first women’s hockey player to appear on the cover of EA SPORTS NHL 23, joining Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras.

The EA NHL franchise introduced women’s national team rosters to the game in NHL 22. Nurse led all players with an Olympic-record 18 points as Canada won a gold medal win over the United States at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“As someone who has played EA SPORTS NHL since I was kid, it is a dream come true to be on the cover this year with Sarah,” Zegras said in a statement. “I can’t wait to play this year’s version with my friends and teammates, and I am equally excited to see fans unleash my Michigan flip pass, which the team at EA SPORTS has managed to get into the game.”

Recent cover athletes for NHL include Auston Matthews (2022), Alexander Ovechkin (2021), Matthews (2020), P.K. Subban (2019) and Connor McDavid (2018).

The official trailer will be revealed on Thursday.

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