NHL 13 Cover: Candidates, Snubs and Picks for EA Sports' Hockey Game Cover

EA Sports is allowing hockey fans to choose who appears on the cover of their award-winning NHL video game franchise.

The cover of NHL 13 will be chosen in a bracket-style format, but first you must choose between each team's already selected duo of candidates.

Let's look at a complete breakdown of the candidates and players most deserving of the NHL 13 cover.

NHL 13 Cover Voting Information

Click here to choose your favorite athletes with no voting limitations. If you want to vote for Claude Giroux 500 times tomorrow, no one's stopping you.

Here is a complete schedule of the voting process:

Dates	Bracket Information (Via NHL.com)
March 29 through April 11	Round of 60: one representative from each team plus two wild-card selections advance*
April 12 through April 22	32-Player Leaderboard: fans vote for their favorite 16 candidates; top 16 vote-getters advance
April 24 through June 4	Round of 16: single-elimination playoff bracket decides NHL 13 cover athlete

Who are the candidates?

Here is a complete list of the candidates for the NHL 13 cover, courtesy of NHL.com. As you can tell, the first wave of voting will be voting for each team's best candidate.

Who Got Snubbed

There were quite a few players that deserved to be in their team's pair of candidates, but ultimately didn't make the cut.

While some teams have so much talent, the following players should have been chosen even though only two can be selected per team.

Did I miss a snub? Let me know in the comment section at the end of the article.

Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins

Tyler Seguin should be a Bruins candidate, but backup goaltender Tuukka Rask should not.

Rask is a tremendous player and a future star, but Bruins forward Milan Lucic is one of the most recognizable players on the team and a fan favorite.

Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals

Capitals defenseman John Carlson and forward Brooks Laich are the two nominees for their team, but I would have liked to see star center Nicklas Backstrom replace Laich.

Backstrom is the second-best player on the team and an elite offensive player. Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin was on the cover of NHL 07, so it's unlikely that he gets another chance to be on it anytime soon.

Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers

You can't argue with Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist being a candidate for the cover, but Brad Richards should not be one of the team's two candidates.

Richards just arrived in New York this year, and doesn't deserve to be ahead of captain Ryan Callahan. Callahan is a tremendous two-way forward and is a coach's dream.

Jack Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash is probably not on the NHL's list because his future in Columbus is uncertain, but newly acquired defenseman Jack Johnson has to be in the team's pairing because he is a great young player and a likely captain candidate if Nash is traded in the summer.

Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames goalie is one of the league's best players and is once again the team's MVP. There's no way that players such as Matt Stajan and Mikael Backlund should be on here before him.

Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks

This is one of the more shocking snubs in this cover athlete process. Ryan Kesler is the Vancouver Canucks' third-best player and is much more deserving than Alex Burrows. 

Who are the best candidates?

Logan Couture, Sharks

Logan Couture is the future of the San Jose Sharks and made his first All-Star Game appearance this season.

He's a terrific young offensive player and a superstar in the making. He also has a great personality that's fit for a video game cover boy.

Claude Giroux, Flyers

Claude Giroux was third in the NHL in points this season and is a legitimate candidate for the Hart Trophy this season.

He really helped linemates Jaromir Jagr and Scott Hartnell have tremendous offensive seasons. Giroux is a young star who has a very bright future ahead of him.

Erik Karlsson, Senators

Erik Karlsson led all defensemen with 78 points this season, and is a legitimate candidate for the Norris trophy.

Karlsson is one of the best young stars in hockey and is only going to get better. The NHL would be smart to market his talents.

John Tavares, Islanders

The New York Islanders center will become a superstar next year and set a career high with 81 points this season.

Tavares is becoming one of the league's best players, but playing on Long Island is not helping him receive the national recognition he deserves.

My pick for the NHL 13 cover

Claude Giroux

Giroux became a superstar this season and finished third in the NHL in points. As a superstar talent in a major market, he's a player the NHL should look to market more.

Follow @NicholasGoss35

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.