'NHL 16' Release Date & Cover: Chicago Blackhawks Star Patrick Kane Removed from Cover, Promotional Activities
Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane will no longer be featured on the cover of "NHL 16" amid allegations of sexual assault.
EA Sport confirmed on Twitter that aside from Kane's removal from the cover, the 26-year-old will also lose his promotional privileges for the video game.
The initial dual-player design of "NHL 16" was supposed to be the game's first ever cover that will put the spotlight on two hockey all-stars: Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and Kane.
Ongoing investigation
Law enforcement sources told Buffalo News a week ago that Kane was the subject of a police investigation after a woman accused Kane of sexual assault.
The woman was treated in a local hospital where she was allegedly tested for signs of possible rape.
Gregory Wickett, head of Hamburg policemen, refused to give a statement on the incident apparently due to a "strict gag order."
To find out more about what happened, Buffalo News interviewed Kane's neighbors who said police arrived at the player's lakefront home last Sunday night. They recalled some casual-dressed police men searching the vicinity with flashlights.
Details of the investigation have remained scarce.
Blackhawks' response
Pat Brisson, Kane's agent, said the Blackhawks organization is still gathering data and reviewing initial reports. "It would not be appropriate to provide further comment at this time," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Blackhawks has confirmed to ESPN that Kane will not be present in any initially scheduled public events with the Stanley Cup.
Kane's removal from NHL's cover isn't the first time EA had to modify cover athletes. Back in 2004, EA decided to remove Dany Heatley after he lost control of his Ferrari and crashed, which lead to the death of his teammate Dan Snyder.
Amid the backlash, "NHL 16" promises to bring improvements and cool new gameplay to NHL fans.
"We're removing the progression grind, that our fans told us created an unbalanced online experience, in favor of a new player class system. These player classes will be tuned to play together, each bringing their own strengths to the ice. The new EA SPORTS Hockey League is all about putting together the right mix of classes to support your team's playing style, and then stepping on to the ice and letting your skill, not ratings, be the differentiator between being good and being great," EA announced.
"NHL 16" will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Sept. 15, 2015.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com