NHL 14: Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Martin Brodeur for EA Sports cover

Oh, the hubris of EA Sports, using the silhouette of a skater as the placeholder for their NHL 14 cover. Turns out, it’s going to be a goaltender that graces the cover of this venerable video game series’ next edition:

EA Sports announced on Monday that Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets were the final two for the NHL 14 cover vote tournament. Brodeur advanced past Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings in the semifinals; The Bob did the same with John Tavares of the New York Islanders.

Voting for this round is now live and fans can vote an unlimited number of times at NHL.com/CoverVote. This year fans can double their voting power by using these player specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays.” The winner of the final vote will be revealed during the Stanley Cup Final.

How did Brodeur surge to the final two? Social media, that’s how.

His Facebook page has pushed his candidacy, as did his official Twitter feed. Bobrovsky has also gotten a strong social media push from the Blue Jackets’ Twitter feed, and from his own teammates:

Both goalies are vying to become the first since John Vanbiesbrouck of the Florida Panthers for NHL 97 to appear on the cover.

Alas, Pavel Datsyuk continues his inexplicable streak of never appearing on an NHL video game cover, despite being a human video game character.