Ryan Kesler is the NHL 2K11 cover athlete

by JC Fletcher on Mar 9th 2010 11:31AM

First he won a silver medal at the Winter Olympics, and now he'll be on the cover of the Wii-exclusive NHL 2K11. Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler sounds genuinely excited about the opportunity, telling The Canadian Press that the only way he thought he'd ever end up on a game cover was "if I put my own picture on there."

"It's a dream come true for me," Kesler, ever the good spokesplayer, said. "I grew up playing, and to be on the cover of 2K is unbelievable."

Kesler confirmed that he got in his motion capture time for the game last year with 2K10 cover athlete Alexander Ovechkin. "I'm not a flashy scorer like Ovechkin, by any means, but I think I'm exciting in my own right," Kesler observed, suggesting that his Olympic performance was what attracted publisher Take-Two to his game ... face.

Hopefully, for Kesler's sake, there's no equivalent "Madden Curse" for NHL games. Hockey players are already doomed to lose all their teeth anyway. NHL 2K11 will be out this fall.

Source

Tags: 2k-sports, hockey, nhl, nhl-2k11, Nintendo, ryan-kesler, sports, take-two, Wii

Reader Comments (49)

Do us good with this release 2K. Looking forward to it!

rumor has it stamkos will be on the cover of the better game, nhl 11

That would be a pretty solid pick. He's busting out this year and just keeps getting better and better.

Again, seriously, Kesler?

Stamkos would be a great pick for the NHL11 cover.

Much better hockey player for a much better game.

rumor has it steve stamkos will be on the cover of nhl 11

Stamkos' regular season is terrible compared to Kesler's. Plus both the EA NHL and 2K NHL games have always been on par with each other in both reviews and gameplay. It's simply preference.

Spike, I like you and your comments, but you might want to check out the latest stats on the players and the reviews from the last NHL games. Wrong and wrong.

Ok so NHL 2K10 vs NHL 10, 2K was rocked. But all previous titles have been so closely well done, from both parties. Plus 2K had the advantage in the past of selling their copies cheaper than EA's titles. Really though they are both great series. Just don't like people bashing a game that is solid and well done (which goes toward his previous duplicated comment).

Spike must be a Canucks fan, no intelligent hockey fan would seriously be able to say that Kesler is as good a hockey player as Stamkos.

I'm a Stars fan, thanks. Besides I speak my statistics. Go compare them both. Stamkos falls very short of Kesler's stats.

I think you need to lay off the drugs Spike. Let's compare their stats shall we?

Kesler: 65GP 19G 40A 59P
On pace for 23G and 50A for 73P

Stamkos: 64GP 40G 36A 76P
On pace for 51G 46A for 97P

So Stamkos has played 1 less game, and has 28 more goals and 24 more points.

Explain to me how Keslers numbers are better? Not to mention the fact that Stamkos is 5 years younger and only in his second NHL season.

Know what Keslers stats were in his second NHL season?
82GP 10G 13A for 23P

Who is the better hockey player again?

I won't deny your numbers aren't wrong. Kesler has more experience, more awards, and more done in his career than I see Stamkos doing. I just don't see Stamkos keeping up with Kesler's career even giving him the amount of time required. I won't bash Stamkos either. He is a great player. And in some aspect I suppose we are debating a subject that's too difficult to compare with what we've seen of Stamkos and what Kesler has done, adding a little biased cherry on top. But this is what us hockey fans do.

Spike, you are insane. EA's NHL games have run circles around 2k's NHL games for at LEAST the last two years.

There's a reason the 2k games are taking a break from the 360/PS3. They need to try and figure out how they can get into even the same league as the EA NHL games again.

Maybe it's just me then. I didn't have much issue with the 2K versions. It's true EA's titles have been the stronger force, but 2K has never been in such a hole that I could truly say "wow this game sucks".

Spike, its not the Kesler is a bad hockey player, but there is no Comparison between him and Stamkos. I mean, Stamkos if a superstar, 40+ goal scoring all-star, Kesler is a 2nd liner on Van.

That said, Kesler is a interesting choice. I can name 5 other players on Van. alone that I would have on the cover. Let alone that he isn't really a marketable player, lots of fans around the league don't care for him.

LETS GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!

Vcize,

How are you (once again) the only one in the reply thread here attempting to bring this discussion to fanboy proportions?

"There's a reason the 2k games are taking a break from the 360/PS3. They need to try and figure out how they can get into even the same league as the EA NHL games again."

Umm, right. Except that there is absolutely no evidence pointing towards that assumption. Perhaps the Wii market along with the motion plus capabilities is a stronger market to pursue for hockey titles in 2Ks observations? You know, kind of like how EA sees no reason to put NCAA football titles on Wii due to lack of market potential? Yeah, that. Except the opposite.

Steven Stamkos is 20 years old, Ryan Kessler is 25. Stamkos has already scored more goals this season than Kessler has in a single season of his career, and in his 2nd year in the NHL. Clearly, Stamkos is the superior player... plus he's Canadian.

He meant to say: "I grew up playing games from the NHL series."

Also, as a Canucks fan I'm obliged to say I'm happy for him.

Screw Kesler and his trash-talking of the Canadians at the Olympics.

It's not so much that he 'won silver' in Vancouver, it's that he lost gold :)

Here's hoping there are more Canadians reading this story than Americans, so the upvotes outnumber the downvotes.

Eek!

34 million Canadians vs 305 million Americans.

Good luck.

Fact: Canadians care more about hockey than Americans. It's science.

Fact: Canadians care more about hockey than anything or anyone.

Being a Canadian and a Canucks fan im gona just say you people need to get over that, common he's a hockey player his job is to trash talk the opposition. I garrantee next game that he plays Ryan Miller he will trash talk him also.

Trash talking is a part of the game, no doubt about it, but he actually said, "I hate them" when asked about the Canadians. Not cool. Did he forget that he plays for a Canadian team? Idiot.

Off topic a bit - i liked how Philly beat Toronto (hate the Leafs) the other night, but at the end of the game the crowd started chanting "USA". All of the players that scored for the Flyers were Canadians. Haha!

Maybe he was actually talking about how he hates the Canadiens.

@uncle jesse: Ok, you post on msg boards and you don't get that his comments were sarcastic? You really think that Kesler hates Canadians.... you point out yourself where he plays. Come on, it was just joking & friendly rivalry. Well, I thought it was funny. And I'm Canadian & a Canucks fan.

And The American Website (www.joystiq.com) posts about stuff (note that I don't say "news" or "journalism"). Labeling TSN.ca as "The Canadian Press" is like saying "Downtown Canada". Much more offensive than anything Kesler could say.

It's a good thing I'm not into sports games because the way joystiq "writes" about Canada truly makes me cringe. Let's hope they don't discover where other major game studios are based... hint, the Olympics were just there.....

Don, did you see/hear the clip of him saying it? It didn't sound sarcastic to me. He quickly tried to take it back right after he said it. What about another American player, Jack Johnson, saying that he "dislikes" us? You think they're all joking around and being buddies?

Trust me, I'm very aware of the stupid things posted about Canada. I'm with you on that. I just don't like the idea of a guy who isn't very popular around the league and says stupid things like that can becoming the face of a hockey video game. They used to reserve that honour for respected and talented stars in the league. No sir, I don't like it.

@uncle jesse: I couldn't find a video clip of the comments. But I did find this article with the quotes:

http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/768974--u-s-getting-hate-on-for-canada

["I hate them," said Ryan Kesler, a Canuck in the NHL but very much an American here. "It's a big rivalry. Obviously, Canadians, it's their game. I wouldn't say I hate them, you have respect for the other team. Canadians expect to win the gold and anything less is not good enough. It's going to be fun to try to knock them off."

"Do we dislike them? Absolutely," said U.S defenceman Jack Johnson.]

Honestly, yeah I do think it's not serious, just trash talk. I'm not a hardcore hockey fan, but I just don't think there's anything more than really wanting to demolish your sports enemy in those comments... and the U.S. *should* "hate" their rivals, they should be mad they lost, and do their best to win games. As to whether Kesler is appropriate for the box cover, again, I'm not into sports games so it doesn't really affect me one way or the other. I'd probably rather see Crosby on the cover, but there are people who hate him too. So what do I know...

Kesler is on the cover?!? Wow.

Wow, Dr. Blight - I never realized Joystiq is read by *the entire population of Canada and the U.S.*

I concede defeat in my original post. Luckily though, I'm not stupid.

Sheesh.

I think you are challenged, actually. With those numbers, there's a greater chance that Joystiq is read by more Americans than Canadians.

Yes but this post is not all of Joystiq, it's a single post about Hockey, and thus is more likely to attract Canadians that U.S.ians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjiwBwBL4Qo

And don't forget Avatar - we know a sh*tload about Bryan Adams!

:S

Damn comment system, feel free to downvote this one into oblivion.

Keep in mind that Kesler has to play for the Leafs.

What?

Kesler is a Canuck not a Leaf...

Whoa. Time for me to stop the MJ.

Weird timing on this announcement, given that the current season hasn't even gotten to the playoffs yet.

Is it just me who wished Ovechkin was on the cover? If you ignore the abysmal Olympic performance, he surely is the best candidate.....

I would like to see ovechkin over kesler on the cover

Does 2K realize how much Kesler is despised around the league?

Just to reiterate ... NHL 2K11 is NOT being made for the X-Box 360 and PS3 this year, right? It is Wii Exclusive?

lol oh ya... gigglez...

Joystiq you need to fix your article, it is not correct. No one wins Silver in Ice Hockey at the Olympics. They lose the Gold. GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!!

Get your feet on the ice, you spaz!

grrrrrrrrr. should have been crosby grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. crosby

They would finally have the best way to market their new "Freestyle Flopping" system

Why is everyone comparing Stamkos to Kesler via stats?

Kesler is a defensive forward, nominated for the selke in 08/09 along with Richards and Datsuk.

Kesler was also one of the best players for the US in the olympics... what was Stamkos doing during the Olympics?

I dont deny Stamkos is a premier goal scorer, but you cant just compare stats. i mean if you just look at points, then Kesler is better than even Jonathan Toews or Marion Hossa.

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Ryan Kesler is the NHL 2K11 cover athlete

Reader Comments (49)

Posted: Mar 9th 2010 11:32AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

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