Patrick Kane Has Been Removed From The Cover Of NHL16 Due To The Ongoing Rape Investigation

Play Together. Win Together. The cover athletes for #NHL16! pic.twitter.com/FYnl7fvgF3

— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) June 25, 2015

The new cover of #NHL16. pic.twitter.com/57iMr9pD9d

— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 12, 2015

Official statement regarding Patrick Kane. pic.twitter.com/MVurUYOHT8

— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) August 12, 2015

Well, I guess it had to be done. Whether or not Patrick Kane did or didn't sexually assault that girl in Buffalo, you quite obviously can't market a product to children that features a potential sex offender. Especially when your mantra is "play together". Pretty sure you couldn't possibly find something that directly opposes that slogan more than rape. Dammit, I'm sorry. I knew it was too soon for a rape joke. That one kind of just got away from me there. Regardless, this is just the beginning. Like I have said before, you don't get accused of rape and ever completely lose that label. I'm sure this is just the first shoe to drop with an entire South Korean sweatshop of footwear to come. The cover of a video game may seem pretty trivial until you realize it could mean the end of millions of dollars in endorsement money. Millions of dollars he may very well deserve to lose, but millions of dollars  nonetheless. Let's hope the truth gets uncovered, but either way, Patrick Kane's life will never be entirely the same.

I actually loved the idea of having, what I think is, the first ever cover with two different teammates from a championship team on it. Especially after all they have accomplished together over the last half decade. With that said, now that Patrick Kane has been removed, I am surprised in their decision to keep Jonathan Toews on there as well. Toews is obviously deserving, but if you release the image with both players, than release the new version with just one of those players, it really draws attention to the fact that a player that was removed. Part of thinks they should have just went a completely different direction. Instead of putting someone like Tyler Seguin on the cover, and hoping people forget what it was originally supposed to look like, you just basically turned it into the cover that Patrick Kane was erased from. I know I am nitpicking here, but I don't think anyone that plays and follows the NHL games religiously can look at that cover without remembering the controversy behind it. Not exactly something I would want my product to remind people of, but what do I know, I'm not in  marketing.