For the second consecutive year the folks over at Electronic Arts are letting fans decide which NHL player is used on the cover of their annual NHL game. Last year, the fans voted Philadelphia's Claude Giroux on to the cover of NHL 13. Who will grace the cover of NHL 14? If it's up to the folks over at the online community 4chan, it'll be Nashville's Brandon Yip.

Who? 

Even if you're a serious hockey fan you might not be familiar with the forward from the Nashville Predators. Yip is hardly a recognizable name in the NHL (though his name is fun to say), especially when compared to other cover candidates such as Evgeni Malkin or Zdeno Chara. He's played in 172 career games which were split between the Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. He has struggled to find his niche, scoring just six goals in his last 69 games. 

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Why is an online community trying to put a player that's almost completely unrecognizable on the cover of one of the best selling sports games? Simply, a lot of folks have a major issue with EA. For the second straight year, EA was named the "Worst Company in America" by the Consumerist. The company's most recent major blunder was their complete butchering of the beloved Sim City franchise. 

Now some angry consumers are looking to make EA look foolish by attempting to place a player that most people have never heard of on the cover of NHL 14. The movement isn't supposed to offend Yip, but instead it's supposed to make a mockery of EA. So far the effort to get Yip on the cover is starting to gain some traction. SI's Extra Mustard covered it and already the hashtag #WinItForYipper is seeing plenty of love on Twitter. 

Would EA actually allow Yip to be the face of NHL 14? They claim they are willing to place any candidate on the box, but realistically we have to imagine EA would use some of their executive power and "influence" the results if it really came down to it. 

This protest or movement or whatever you want to call it is a fun one, but it's not the best way to show EA your disatisfaction. Want to really hit EA where it hurts? Show them with your wallet. 

You can vote for the NHL 14 cover by heading over to vote.nhl.com

[Extra Mustard]

About David Rogers

Editor for The Comeback and Contributing Editor for Awful Announcing. Lover of hockey, soccer and all things pop culture.

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