Hearing a favorite NFL player is slated to be on the cover of latest installment of Madden is enough to leave a fan in a cold sweat.

In video gaming and football circles it is known as the "Madden Curse ," and it usually results in injuries or disasterous seasons for that season's cover boy.

The curse is hit or miss when it comes EA's NHL series. Some cover athletes have suffered devastating injuries or disppointing seasons. Others have experienced career years. The most notable has to be Chris Pronger, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1999-2000, the year he was on NHL's cover. Strangely, as Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane recently discovered, the "curse" of NHL cover boys extend to run-ins with the law.

EA published generic action shots on its NHL series covers until 1997 when Florida Panthers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck became the first to have the cover to himself.

Below is a breakdown of EA's NHL cover athletes and their highs and lows from that season:


NHL '97 - John Vanbiesbrouck
Season: 1996-97
A year after guiding his team to the Stanley Cup Finals,  Vanbiesbrouck backstopped the Florida Panthers to their best start in franchise history. The Cats opened the season 8-0-4 and boasted a 15-3-6 record through the first two months of the season. Down the stretch, Florida collapsed. The Panthers won just one of 10 games in late February and were defeated by the New York Rangers, 4-1, in the first round of the playoffs. Florida has not won a playoff game since.

NHL '98 - Peter Forsberg
Season: 1997-98
Forsberg had an outstanding season, earning first-team all-star honors and finishing second only to Jaromir Jagr in the scoring race. His 91 points were the fourth highest total of his career. The following season, Forsberg suffered a shoulder injury which limited him to just 49 games.

NHL '99 - Eric Lindros
Season: 1998-99
Like Forsberg, Lindros had an exceptional season the year he graced the NHL cover. The Flyers captain registered his fourth 40-goal season and finished with at least 90 points for the third time in his career. Things turned in March, however, when Lindros suffered the first of many concussions which would ultimately end his career. He missed the Flyers' last 18 games and his relationship with then-GM Bobby Clarke began to deteriorate. The following season he suffered a potentially fatal rib injury and openly criticized team doctors. The Flyers stripped Lindros of his 'C.'

NHL '00 - Chris Pronger, Markus Naslund
Season: 1999-2000
For the first time, EA released North American and European versions of the game. The cover athlete for the North American edition, Pronger had a career year with 14 goals, 62 points and a plus-52 rating. He won the Hart and Norris Trophies. Naslund's production dipped from the previous seasons. Both players saw their luck go in opposite directions the following season. Pronger missed 31 games due to injury, while Naslund experienced a breakout year with his first 40-goal season.

NHL '01 - Owen Nolan, Jere Lehtinen
Season: 2000-01
Regarded as one of the league's more durable power fowards, Nolan missed 25 games the year EA selected him for the cover of NHL's North American edition. Nolan dealt with nagging abdominal injuries at the start of the season. In February, he received an 11-game suspension for elbowing Dallas' Grant Marshall in the neck. Lehtinen, meanwhile, rebounded from a disappointing 1999-2000 campaign in which an ankle injury limited him to just 17 games. He recorded his third 20-goal effort in five seasons.

NHL '02 - Mario Lemieux
Season: 2001-02
Lemieux, who came out of retirement the previous season, appeared in just 24 games with the Penguins because of a nagging hip injury. He underwent surgery in November and returned in time for the 2002 Winter Games. Lemieux won a gold medal with Team Canada in Salt Lake City, but received criticism for putting his Olympic ambitions ahead of the Penguins, who finished last in the Atlantic Division that season.

NHL '03 - Jarome Iginla
Season: 2002-03
One season after posting a league- and career-high 52 goals, Iginla's numbers took a dive. The Flames winger suffered a finger injury during a fight early in the season and it hampered his play. Iginla finished with a respectable 35 goals and 67 points, but many considered the effort a disappointment given his breakout season the year before.

NHL '04 - Dany Heatley, Joe Sakic
Season: 2003-04
EA originally chose Joe Thornton for the cover, but decided to forego the decision after the center was accused of assaulting two police officers. EA opted for Heatley as his replacement. Shortly after the game shipped, Heatley was involved in a car crash which resulted in the death of teammate Dan Snyder. Midway through the season, EA changed its cover athlete yet again, this time selecting Joe Sakic. The Avalanche captain finished third in league scoring with 87 points and earned a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2004 World Championship.



NHL '05 - Markus Naslund, Olli Jokinen
Season: 2004-05
Despite a lockout, EA continued with the NHL series, again with North American and European versions of the game. Both players experienced strong seasons in Europe. Naslund, who appeared with MoDo (Sweden) that year, posted 17 points in 13 games. Jokinen split time among EHC Kloten (Switzerland), Sodertalje (Sweden) and HIFK (Finland) and finished with 46 points in 45 games.

NHL '06 - Vincent Lecavalier, Tuomo Ruutu
Season: 2005-06
Lecavalier experienced his best season to date, posting 35 goals. His numbers were on par with previous seasons, but Tampa Bay, the defending Stanley Cup champion, failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs. On the international front, Lecavalier made his Olympic debut at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. He returned without a medal. Ruutu, who graced the cover of the European edition, saw his season decimated by back and ankle injuries. He appeared in just 15 games.

NHL '07 - Alex Ovechkin, Teemu Selanne, Henrik Lundqvist
Season: 2006-07
All three players had outstanding seasons. Ovechkin, the North American cover athlete, and Teemu Selanne, the player on NHL's Finnish edition, each recorded at least 40 goals and 90 points. Lundqvist, the cover athlete for the Swedish edition, appeared in 70 games and won 37. Selanne won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Anaheim Ducks this season. It is worth noting this is, so far, the only season in which Ovechkin has failed to score at least 50 goals.

NHL '08 - Eric Staal, Jaromir Jagr, Henrik Zetterberg, Teemu Selanne, Mark Streit
Season: 2007-08
Staal rebounded from a disppointing 2006-07 campaign, but found himself in the headlines prior to the season when he and 12 others were arrested during a rowdy bachelor party. Jaromir Jagr saw his relationship with the New York Rangers deteriorate over contract issues. Despite a respectable 71-point season, the Rangers declined to pick up his option for the following season. On the flip side, Selanne (Finland), Zetterberg (Sweden) and Streit (Switzerland) each had good years. Selanne re-signed with the Ducks in mid-season and finished with 23 goals in 26 games. Zetterberg won his first Stanley Cup with the Red Wings. Streit experienced a breakout season in Montreal and too advantage of his success by signing a five-year, $20.5 million contract with the New York Islanders as a free agent.

NHL '09 - Dion Phaneuf
Season: 2008-09
One year after posting a career-high 60 points and finishing as the runner-up for the Norris Trophy, Phaneuf posted a career-low 47 points. Phaneuf, who never posted a minus rating in his first three seasons, finished minus-11.

NHL '10 - Patrick Kane, Mikko Koivu, Mikkel Boedker, Mark Streit, Nicklas Backstrom
Season: 2009-10
Kane, EA's North American cover athlete, is the first of this group to make headlines. He was arrested in Buffalo on August 9 for allegedly punching a cab driver over 20 cents change. The Blackhawks winger faces felony robbery charges and two misdemeanor counts. EA has slated Koivu to be on the Finnish version of the game, Boedker on the Danish version, Streit on the Swiss version and Backstrom on the Swedish version.

I wrote a couple weeks back about going on a bit of a hockey road trip... but then a snowstorm, lack of a reliable Internet connection and the flu kind of took me out of commission.

But to post a few thoughts about the trip so far:

- I'm clearly a bad luck charm for the New York Rangers. I've seen them play twice, both home and away, and they're 0-2. A friend who gave me tickets to Wednesday's Capitals-Rangers contest told me he's going to have me banned from MSG.

- Seeing the Canadiens play in Montreal was awe-inspiring. I imagine going to a hockey game in Montreal is the equivalent of seeing a mass at the Vatican. I didn't think the arena was anything special (in terms of modern amenities), but it definitely had the best hockey atmosphere you could ever come across.

- Rangers fans are by far the most entertaining in the league.  They definitely speak their mind when their team is doing poorly, and the choice words are a riot.  Coming out of Wednesday night's game (in which New York blew a 4-1 lead), one fan yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOW DO YOU BLOW A FOUR F------ GOAL LEAD?!"  Play poor defense and let Alex Ovechkin score a couple of times?  (No, I wasn't crazy enough to tell him this.)

- Oh, and finally, on the way to Montreal, my friend and I took a quick detour and visited Lake Placid. A women's team was practicing on the main rink at Herb Brooks Arena, but my friend noticed there were "boys" on a practice rink you could see from the stands. Those "boys" just happened to be members of the U.S. U20 team. They were getting in a practice before heading up to Ottawa for the World Junior Championship.

Good times...

While digging through a Google-translated version of Soviet Sport, I came across the following headline: "Sidney Crosby, the best player in the NHL."

The story discussed how Crosby took honors as the NHL's top player from an awards ceremony by a network that dedicates one, sole minute of coverage to the sport of hockey in a given week. As you can imagine, this did not go over well in Russia, given the record-breaking season by Alex Ovechkin.

Below is an excerpt from the story (cleaned up translation in parentheses):

"The leading North American sports television station ESPN annually determines the best athletes of different leagues and sports. The vote on the (2007-08 season's best NHL hockey player) was not Alexander Ovechkin (but) Sidney Crosby. True, fans make the choice themselves, (by) fans who voted at ESPN. If elections were held on the site Soviet Sport, Crosby (would not have won) and (won) 10 percent."

I'm surprised the story's headline didn't read "BULLS---!"

How many of the voters, do you think, knew Crosby missed a third of the season with an ankle injury and finished outside the top 30 in scoring? Or did they somehow overlook the fact Ovechkin became the first player to capture the NHL's four major awards (Hart, Pearson, Art Ross, Richard) in a single season thanks to a 65-goal, 112-point effort?

I guess it really shouldn't be a surprise considering David Beckham, who went without a point in five games with the L.A. Galaxy last season, was named "Best MLS Player."

ATLANTA -- The NHL definitely has something with the addition of the Breakaway Challenge, but it needs a little fine tuning before next season.

But before I get any further with that, here's how the event came down to an insane ending:

After Pavel Datsyuk bored the crowd with impressive, but routine moves, that's when guys started getting creative.

On Ryan Getzlaf's first attempt, he slid the puck behind his back from the right, off the inside of his left skate to his backhand, then shot. On his next try, he skated backwards while stickhandling, put the puck between his legs (while still backwards!), spun around and wristed it. He earned a nine and three sevens.

Ilya Kovalchuk followed by first pumping up the crowd, then deflated them with a relatively boring, take the puck really wide, hold it and wrist it attempt. He fared a little bit better on the next, dropping to his knees in the high slot, stickhandling and shooting it at Manny Legace. For that, two eights and two sevens.

Marian Gaborik used the "Marik Malik" between-the-legs shot for his first move. On the second, he strung together several bits of trickery, building up speed with a huge circle before touching the puck, sprinting in on the goalie, stopping short to get Rick DiPietro sprawling, then tried to put it in with a wraparound. DiPietro managed to get back for the save. The judges liked that and handed out a nine, an eight, a seven and a six.

And then there was Ovechkin. The guy likes to score, so he made sure he accomplished that first, by skating in with a couple of quick dekes and roofing it. But it was the second that had the fans begging for more. While skating in, Ovechkin managed to pick up the puck on his stick, batted it in the air a couple of times and tried to bat it in. A swing and a miss. Still, when he got the puck on his stick and flipped it up in the air, you could just sense every body in the arena clinging to the edge of the seat.

Getzlaf and Ovechkin moved on to the final round.

All the Ducks center could think was, "what is he going to do and what do I have to do to get there?"

On Getzlaf's first attempt, he spun around and tried to pick up the puck in a lacrosse-style move and shoot it in one fell swoop, but the puck didn't stick. He picked up a nine, two eights and a seven.

"Usually I can do it," Getzlaf said. "If the pucks get wet, or your stick gets wet, it's a little tougher. There are some old guys that can do it, though. I used to watch Steve Yzerman do that move. He did it all the time in practice when I was in Calgary."

Ovechkin showed more persistence with his previous move, only this time upped the ante -- he got the puck on his stick, bounced it, flung it high into the air, threw in a spin on top if it all, swung at the puck coming down and missed again. From the judges who played pro sports -- Bill Clement, Scott Mellanby and Dominique Wilkins -- Ovechkin earned a nine. From the actor who pretends to play high school sports, an eight. (I'm taking a moment to say the guy's a fool for not giving Ovechkin a nine. Clement put it best -- for the moves Ovechkin showed, he completely surpassed the entire competition.)

"It was a baseball and a little bit of a hockey move," said Ovechkin, who revealed he never attempted to practice the moves. "I liked it, but I didn't score. I'm disappointed.

"I started thinking about it when Kovalchuk shot. I had just a little time to think what I had to do."

We're still unclear about the scoring (it wasn't the only event that had issues with numbers... we never received data for the fastest skater competition), so how the Breakaway Challenge went to a tiebreaker is unclear. But both players were probably confused as well, were just thinking a goal was necessary for a win and used basics to get a puck in the net.

And that was that.

Like I said above, this was a goal for the NHL, not a hat trick like they got from the Winter Classic. You have to believe a certain amount of luck is required for these moves to execute to perfection, so the fact that these guys can even come 99 percent to that point is impressive. Even consider the fact these guys weren't trying to execute one move correctly -- they were combining four and five motions. If Ovechkin or Getzlaf converted on either of their insane moves, you know it would have been plastered all over every highlight reel in the world.

Sharks coach Ron Wilson mentioned afterwards many of the guys who took part in the Breakaway Challenge didn't really know what the gist of it was until very recently. They didn't have time to practice moves, or even know what was allowed. (And we'll attest to that as several tweaked events didn't seem exact to their descriptions.)

Maybe goalies should serve as relatively stationary targets. Maybe you let the creativity continue until a goal is actually scored. Maybe you increase the number of attempts -- so what if it runs long? Fans aren't going to care if everything they see is as challenging as what Getzlaf and Ovechkin did this evening.

With a little tweaking, the Breakaway Challenge could produce moments that will be as memorable as this year's Winter Classic.

ATLANTA -- If you've watched some of the NHL events over the past couple years, you'll notice the league has added a "red carpet" element. Basically picture any scene you've seen outside of a Hollywood awards show. Subtract the celebrities, add hockey players.

The idea is actually a good one, because it gives the great opportunity to not only get their players media exposure of a personal side, but gives fans a chance to get access. It creates fanfare, and that's what the NHL needs. Just check out this photo of a swarm of little kids clamoring to get Alex Ovechkin's autograph:



Of course, while most understand this is really supposed to be a fun event, there are some fellow media colleagues that just haven't caught on yet.

When Rick DiPietro came over to talk with one of the local Atlanta television stations, the reporter asked him about his suit -- "So, who are you wearing?"

DiPietro's response, "Uh, I don't know? Hugo Boss?"

ATLANTA -- Can you name the San Jose Sharks' backup goaltender? Probably not. That's because Evgeni Nabokov has been in net for 48 of the team's 49 games and put up extremely solid numbers in the process. The former Russian national team goaltender is making his second all-star appearance this weekend.

Here's what he had to say:

Q: What does it mean to you to play at the All-Star Game?

Nabokov: I was waiting for that question. I'm just proud to be here. I'm excited to be here because it's the best players in the league.

Q: Is it going to be nice to be in a game where there isn't much fighting, where it is relaxed and fun?

Nabokov: I don't fight in too many games. (laughs) The only difference is that it's just one period only, so that's probably a good idea.

Q: Being around all the great players, does it make you think back to when you were a kid and who you looked up to? Who were your favorite players when you were starting to play?

Nabokov: Oh sure, the only difference is that when I was growing up, it was all about (Igor) Larionov, (Sergei) Makarov, (Vladislav) Tretiak, (Slava) Fetisov, so you looked up to those guys all the time. Now you're in a different world. I never had one NHL player I really looked up to because we were too far away and we had our own good players. We looked up to them all the time.

Q: What about Tretiak? Was he a hero to you?

Nabokov: Of course he is. He is like (Wayne) Gretzky to Canada. That is what Tretiak is to us. He's not the only guy. Larionov, Markarov, Fetisov are the same way. Those guys are legends to us.

Q: There was a lot of talk about sticking a Russian Five together on the Eastern Conference squad --

Nabokov: Oh, I would love it!

Q: You'd be playing against them.

Nabokov: Maybe I'll chop one of them in the skates or something. It would be great if they would have a chance to play and have fun out there. I think it will happen, actually. Can we put (Alex) Ovechkin in goal?

Q: You can ask him, maybe.

Nabokov: Where is he? Let's ask him. Maybe he can play goal. Ovechkin said he can play defense if they coach is going to put five Russians on the ice, so I said, "Can he play goal, too?"

Q: They have two defenders. We don't need anymore.

Nabokov: So he can't play defense.

Q: Have you seen where he made a great save when his net was empty?

Nabokov: Who, Ovechkin?! OK, he's catching the pucks now. He's doing everything.

Q: He's never scored against you.

Nabokov: In a real game. He's talking at practices all the time, when we were at the Olympics. He tried to score over there. It's all fun. In practice we always have those competitions. He's a real competitive guy. Not too many guys like this are that competitive. I think that's why he's that good.

Q: But as far as the Russain Five, can you talk about the significance of it? It was special during the Soviet dynasty and with the Red Wings. It always seems like there's always a desire to keep it going with the next generation.

Nabokov: It's just nice to see we still have talent. Because these days in Russia, the media always criticizes Russian players. The talent is still there. We still can score goals. We still have defense. It's nice to see. It's good for the Russian kids, too, because they have somebody to look up to. That's the biggest thing. When you have little kids growing up and they say, 'I want to be like Ovechkin,' or 'I want to be like Malkin,' or 'I want to be a defenseman like Gonchar,' that is what makes this event special, when you have seven guys playing. You're going to have little kids saying they want to be like one of those guys.

Q: You mention the Russian media, are they as critical as what you'd find in Toronto or Montreal?

Nabokov: We've got some newspapers that are worse than that! (laughs) It's actually good because they all expect a lot. When we lose to Canada in juniors, it really hurts. So these guys are really on the young guys.

ATLANTA -- When first asked whether he thought about putting a new version of the Russian Five together at Sunday's game, Eastern Conference coach John Paddock's initial response was nyet.

Actually, Paddock never got to elaborate on his thought process during the coaches roundtable. But when a member of the Russian media followed up with the same question during a media scrum, the Senators coach seemed to be changing his stance on the possible combination.

Paddock explained that he hadn't thought about putting a forward line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk together because both Ovechkin and Kovalchuk were left wings with right-handed shots. The journalist informed Paddock, however, Ovechkin said he was excited about the prospect of playing with his fellow countryman and willing to play right wing if thats what it took.

Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar would fill out the five on defense.

"I never thought of it before. I probably should have," Paddock said. "I thought of how I'd play the lines. I don't think I'd play them as a regular group, but I think since it has been brought up, sometime during the game, or at the start of a period, it would be entertaining and further the players' enjoyment. It's certainly something we'd consider now."

Paddock also hinted at possible line combinations including: Kovalchuk-Savard-Hossa, Ovechkin-Spezza-St. Louis, as well as seeing if Mike Richards and Eric Staal can play wing. Scott Gomez and Vincent Lecavalier would probably remain at center.

ATLANTA -- Once touted as the best player not yet in the NHL, Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has quietly emerged on the NHL scene. He first started the year as a winger, but a move to center helped him regain his comfort level and earn a spot alongside Alexander Ovechkin on the Caps' top line.

Q: When you came to the NHL, did you think you'd be here at the All-Star Game?

Backstrom: I didn't know it could happen, but I appreciate being here. It's been fun.

Q: What has the adjustment level been for you this year? It seems like you've handled it well.

Backstrom: We had a tough start, the whole team, this season. I think having Bruce (Boudreau) coming here has helped us win games. The whole team is playing good. We're scoring a lot of goals and that's a good thing for us. We have to score to win games.

Q: For you personally, coming from another country and adjusting to Washington D.C... has it been tough at times?

Backstrom: It was tough in the beginning, but I like it there. It's a good place to play and we've got a really good hockey team, a good gang. It's going better and better, and all the guys are smiling in the locker room right now. I feel more comfortable right now.

Q: Your English is good, so obviously it helps.

Backstrom: It helps to understand something, so your English has to be good. When I first came here, it was terrible.

Q: How have you been learning? A lot of guys that come over from Europe say they watch television to pick up the language. Is there anything specific you've been watching?

Backstrom: In my situation, you just have to pick up words sometimes. I watch a lot of TV. There are the guys (on the team), you pick up some words from them. It helps a lot.

Q: Any specific shows?

Backstrom: I like CSI: Miami. That's my favorite. I don't know if that is a show or not, but I like it.

Q: When you moved from wing back to center, did that help your transition?

Backstrom: I'm a natural centerman. I like to have the puck down in the defensive zone. I like to have the puck in the neutral zone and give it to other players. I feel more comfortable at center and I think my game is going better and better.

Q: And it must be nice to have Alex (Ovechkin) to dish it off to.

Backstrom: For sure. He's a really good goal scorer. If you pass to him, it's a goal, maybe...

Q: How about having Michael Nylander around? It must have been a real help to have him in Washington.

Backstrom: Yeah. He's from Sweden too. I can ask him something off ice. He does really good dinners, too, so...

Q: What's his best dish?

Backstrom: He makes some really good fish, actually.