NHL 13 cover vote final round: Claude Giroux vs. Pekka Rinne

More than 23 million votes have been cast since EA Sports announced its NHL 13 cover vote campaign last month. After all of the voting, the final two players who will be vying to be on the cover of the game hitting shelves Sept. 11 in North America (Sept. 14 in Europe) are Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.

The final voting period will run beginning today (May 29) through June 4, with the winner being revealed during the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas on June 20.

Despite a strong campaign by the Pittsburgh Penguins for Evgeni Malkin, he fell short of his cross-state rival in the end. Same for the efforts of Michael Grabner for teammate John Tavares, who was likely felled by the Charlie Sheen bump:

During Monday's live webcast, EA NHL producers revealed a few details about the upcoming game including the all-new True Performance Skating, stressing that "Every Stride Matters".

That's the focus in a trailer also released yesterday:

Also included in the NHL 13 will be online career modes and NHL Moments Live, giving users the opportunity to relive some of hockey's greatest achievements.

Voting will take place at NHL.com/CoverVote and fans can do so an unlimited number of times. he Twitter hashtag, #NHL13Cover, will also track the cover athlete tournament discussion. Updates and other content will also show up on the EA SPORTS NHL Facebook page.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy