NHL 2K9 covered by Columbus star

Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash leads the charge for 2K Sports' revamp of veteran hockey franchise.

Fans of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets usually don't have much to be happy about this time of year. Each May, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, but since entering the league in 2000, the team has yet to reach the postseason.

Rick Nash was drafted by Columbus first overall in 2002.

2K Sports is giving true Blue fans something to cheer, given that the publisher announced that Columbus captain and three-time All-Star Rick Nash will adorn the cover of NHL 2K9. The 23-year-old left-winger is an avowed gamer, and has been consulting with the game's developers to make "the most fun hockey experience available."

When it comes to critical reception, 2K Sports' series of hockey games typically runs neck-and-neck with Electronic Arts' own pucks franchise, but the series stumbled last year compared to its counterpart. To address that shortcoming, 2K Sports developer Visual Concepts is building NHL 2K9 from the ground up, and promising "to bring the fun and excitement back to hockey video games."

NHL 2K9 is set for a fall release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2.

43 Comments

  • Thrice8

    Posted Aug 11, 2008 2:24 pm PT

    what a joke! anyone who questions why this man is on the cover: all you benders go to youtube and type in "rick nash goal of the year" then please remove your heads from your arses.

  • hardcorps1110

    Posted Jul 25, 2008 12:59 pm PT

    When are they actually going to release something? Geez...

  • pdiddymack10

    Posted May 27, 2008 12:47 pm PT

    don't forget to take the short bus to school

  • ohjtbehaaave

    Posted May 22, 2008 5:46 pm PT

    Crosby is on the cover of the Olympic game ... starring on Canada's DIVING team!!! He should wear a skirt out there he's so soft and a pooooooosaaaaaaaay! He's not a good showcase player for the NHL... he flops way to much when breathed on. Ovechkin is the young showcase player the NHL should promote... not some whiny brat who dives like that skirt wearing Crosby pooooosaaaaaaay. He isn't even the best player on bis team. I'd take Malkin and Stall over that baby.

  • pdiddymack10

    Posted May 22, 2008 6:39 am PT

    I still don't get why Crosby isn't on the front cover though

  • pdiddymack10

    Posted May 22, 2008 6:31 am PT

    NASH IS AN UBER CHOICE!!! PEOPLE HATING ON HIM OBVIOUSLY DON"T HAVE A CLUE WHAT REAL HOCKEY IS ALL ABOUT SO THEY SHOULD GO BACK TO PLAYING VOLLEYGAYBALL!!!

  • jusducks6

    Posted May 22, 2008 6:22 am PT

    Why is everyone hating on Nash he is a top tier player in the NHL after the season he had bringing him back to where he was very early in his career.

  • balanekk

    Posted May 20, 2008 1:34 pm PT

    hey 2k sports, usually good players go on hockey game boxes.

  • Slayer420

    Posted May 20, 2008 1:19 pm PT

    1uP_OnYou - I named my dog after Sean Avery when he was still playing for the Wings. As to this cover.. meh. While I think it should have gone to a player that was able to actually get his team into the playoffs, like a Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg, I think it is a good think for the NHL as a whole. Gives some love to the lesser known team and may help drum up some extra enthusiasm for the Jackets.

  • puppiemaster

    Posted May 20, 2008 4:00 am PT

    Never heard of him, wheres Wayne G

  • MegamanX97

    Posted May 19, 2008 12:23 pm PT

    Thanks for getting a delay of game in the IIHF gold medal game Nash...sigh, But awsome that your on the 2k cover!!

  • mad_tyger

    Posted May 19, 2008 8:55 am PT

    I'm surprised, I thought they would have tried to get the Great 8 on the case.

  • sieg6529

    Posted May 19, 2008 3:48 am PT

    That's awesome. I live in C-bus, and the Blue Jackets deserve some recognition.

  • 1uP_OnYou

    Posted May 18, 2008 10:10 pm PT

    I want a Ranger like Sean Avery on the cover. *still hopes for nhl'09 case*

  • Uncle_Jesse_

    Posted May 18, 2008 7:43 pm PT

    actually, the Seals are considered the worst nhl team in history. I'm pretty sure they still hold the record for most losses in a season, they folded and moved to cleveland within a couple of years too, so yeah the Blue Jackets aren't as bad as you think. I was hopin to finally see Pronger on the cover but I guess he's getting on in years now

  • Nintendo_Ownes7

    Posted May 18, 2008 7:40 pm PT

    @SIN-dycate I hope not eventhough I'm a big Penguins fan and Evgeni Malkin is my favorite player currently but I'm also a fan of All the Pens. I just don't like that alot of players that get on the cover have a bad season after they are on the cover. But there is not really a way the Pens can have a worse year they they had this year with all the Injuries like Sidney Crosby was out for 6-8 weeks with a High Ankle sprain, same with Talbot and Fleury. Gary Roberts was out with a Broken leg, Groin injury and currently Flu like Symptoms (Can't spell Pnemonia) (Is that how it is spelled) and some other Players had other injuries but I can't remember them..

  • benjaminjoel

    Posted May 18, 2008 4:11 pm PT

    still no wii version?

  • SIN-dycate

    Posted May 18, 2008 1:17 pm PT

    I don't know, Sid the Kid would be a good choice. Maybe NHL '09 will plaster him on the cover. Though Malkin would be a good choice too.

  • wilmepe

    Posted May 18, 2008 12:49 pm PT

    Good Choice. As long as it wasn't Cindy Crosby.

  • Nintendo_Ownes7

    Posted May 18, 2008 6:23 am PT

    @PadreGordini I have no Idea but I think EA is waiting for after the Post Season to announce who is on the cover and what new features will be in it and I know I'm defenately buying NHL 09.

  • PadreGordini

    Posted May 17, 2008 7:17 pm PT

    what about NHL 08. its almost June and haven't heard any news. im an EA fan, what new features would we be seeing in any of these 2 games?

  • JediKnight66

    Posted May 17, 2008 12:01 pm PT

    an excellent choice. he was over due for making it onto a cover. Nash is a beast!!!!

  • ff2mike

    Posted May 17, 2008 11:51 am PT

    Great for Rick and great for CBJ!
    The Jackets are better than they're perceived to be. Most of their losses were not by enormous margins. They just need to build up some internal stability. I think its a bridge to far to call them the worst team ever. They've only existed for 8 years folks (and 04-05 was a wash)! While other recent expansion teams are having more luck getting into the playoffs, they're not exactly dazzling folks when they get there.

    So, in general, lay off guys!

  • ShadySoldier99

    Posted May 16, 2008 10:09 pm PT

    I remember when this guy played for the London Knights.

  • newfg311

    Posted May 16, 2008 9:59 pm PT

    Good player, crappy franchise and crappy games by 2K

  • SonicRaptor

    Posted May 16, 2008 8:42 pm PT

    I would like to see Columbus become competitive (I believe their 8th consecutive post-season miss is an NHL record) but their management needs to be shaken-up. They are signing on name value rather than what they need. Nobody needs Peca and even with Federov and Foote they weren't any better. Trading Glencross for Tarnstrom was a laughably one-sided trade. The coaching is fine, but it's the top guys that need to start signing smart.

    NHL 2K9 is notorious for picking a player whose team chokes horribly in the playoffs, for example, the last few titles.

    2K8 - Jason Spezza - Ottawa Senators swept in first round and dominated throughout
    2K7 - Joe Thornton - San Jose Sharks a contender, but always drop out in the second round
    2K6 - Mats Sundin - ..Yeah...
    2K5 - Martin St. Louis - Tampa Bay Lightning absolutely imploded after their Stanley Cup win and after this cover

  • def_mode

    Posted May 16, 2008 8:39 pm PT

    nash is a hockey god

  • Chaos_Bladez

    Posted May 16, 2008 8:32 pm PT

    *cough* Evgeni Nabokov *cough*

  • stziggy

    Posted May 16, 2008 8:08 pm PT

    I wish 2K would get another crack at the NFL.

  • dark1alex

    Posted May 16, 2008 6:28 pm PT

    Nice job Nash, and 2k is good for baseball too.

  • MountainDew77

    Posted May 16, 2008 6:24 pm PT

    2k is only good for basketball

  • BoxFan86

    Posted May 16, 2008 5:30 pm PT

    I never liked the 2k series-but Rick Nash is a great player
    not his fault he plays for Columbus

  • Proman84

    Posted May 16, 2008 3:38 pm PT

    Let's hope this signals a good turn of events for the real "Blue Jackets".

  • Nintendo_Ownes7

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:59 pm PT

    I'm not really a fan of NHL2K series I like the EA NHL series more but I like the NFL2K series more then the Madden series.
    I just hope a Penguin isn't on the cover of the EA one even thought I love the Pens and it would be cool to have one of them on the Cover it is just that that player might have a bad year.

  • enoslives7

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:56 pm PT

    Th Blue-Jackets do suck pretty hard. They are the worst team in the history of the NHL.

  • darknferno12

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:51 pm PT

    Cool Nash is a great player although i would have liked to have seen Nabokov on the cover but thats just me

  • speedjunkie4

    Posted May 16, 2008 2:02 pm PT

    Nice job, Rick.

  • MFazio23

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:34 pm PT

    Well, if this will guaranteed to be popular in Canada, why wouldn't you want to have someone that'll draw in American sales? It'd be foolish to cater the cover to Canadian gamers when they're more likely to buy the game in the first place. I do agree with some of Lockedge's comments too.

  • orfbin

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:33 pm PT

    There are only 6 of the 30 teams that are from canada, and spezza was on it last year, so theres more of a chance it would be a team in america.

  • Lockedge

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:31 pm PT

    The NHL2k devs have always looked for a hockey player who (A) is talented, (B) is pretty well known, and (C) is an avid gamer.

    Who cares if there are more die-hard fans here in Canada? There are more American teams. Who would they put on from a Canadian team, who fits all the above criteria? I'm sure there's a few but not as many as there are on American teams, likely. In the end, it's just a freaking cover athlete. I'm just waiting for a hockey game that either has regular updates or allows the user to fully customize the game (AI, rosters, teams, etc.).
    EA canned their PC outing, which had been promised to be 'next-gen'. I guess that hoping the new head of EA would be fair was a little optimistic. They've been doing pretty good lately but they're still a slave to economics over giving the consumer the best product available.

    2K released a pretty mediocre outing last year, but I see them bouncing back.

  • allnamestaken

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:17 pm PT

    they had spez last year, they can't have a Canadian team represented all the time.

  • PSWi60 posted May 16, 2008 1:04 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    PSWi60

    Posted May 16, 2008 1:04 pm PT (hide)

    Boo! sorry I'm usually the guy who wants positive comments but come on you got more fans in Canada even though we have 10 times less people put on a guy from a Canadian team not just a guy born in Canada

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