The front cover of a sports game is a place where the true greats of the game belong. Frozen there in suspended animation, looking focused, about to do something cool, they tell you everything about their sport at a glance. Posture, regalia, iconography. They’re the embodiment of why anyone would want to play that sport and, by extension, that video game.
At least, that’s what we thought until we saw Kyle Turris on the front of NHL Supercard 2K18. Because just like the NBA, ice hockey’s various licensed titles don’t always go for the obvious athlete for their cover. Sometimes, it seems, the marketing people just give up, write the name of every player in the league out onto bits of paper and let a cat pick one of those names out. And just like that: congratulations, Owen Nolan.
Before we drop the puck, let’s first mention that none of the players we’re about to name are even close to bad. They’re all fantastic, and they would have made it onto the first lines of most sides in the league at the time of their cover stardom. They’re just… weird picks. Let us explain.
