DETROIT -- Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk is currently in the running to have his likeness adorn the cover of EA Sports’ NHL 13 – the most popular hockey video game on the planet. The last time a Red Wing made an appearance on the cover of the long-running franchise was in 1996 when Steve Yzerman earned the distinction.

An online vote is currently being held HERE to determine which NHLer will grace EA Sports’ next game cover. Datsyuk is currently going head-to-head with St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie in a weeklong vote, with the winner set to advance along the championship bracket into the quarterfinals. A final champion will be determined during the week of May 29-June 4 when the two remaining candidates go head-to-head. If Datsyuk is victorious, he would join Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (MLB 2K12) and Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (Madden 2013) as Detroit-based athletes to be featured on the covers of high-profile video game titles this year, giving sports fans in the Motor City a unique ‘hat trick’ of sorts and marking mark the first time in history that three major league athletes from the same city have appeared on the cover of a video game at the same time.

Fans who register online can vote as often as they like, with their first ten ballots cast on any given day earning an entry in the Cover Vote Sweepstakes for a chance to win a VIP trip to the 2012 NHL Awards in Las Vegas. Twitter users are invited to use the hash tag #NHL13Cover when championing their favorite players’ candidacy throughout the duration of this campaign.