Plover native and San Jose Sharks All-Star forward Joe
Pavelski was announced as one of eight finalists to appear on the cover of the
EA Sports NHL 17 videogame for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Voting will take place online at
www.nhl.com/ea-sports-nhl-17-cover-vote, or via Twitter by using the hashtag
#NHL17Pavelski to vote for Pavelski. All Twitter votes on Thursdays will count
double.

The eight finalists will square off bracket-style, as
Pavelski is matched up in Round 1 against Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles
Kings.

Round 1 voting began Tuesday, April 26, at 11 a.m. Central
and will run through Monday, May 2, at 2 p.m. Central.

Round 2 voting will take place from 11 a.m. Central Tuesday,
May 3, through 2 p.m. Central Monday, May 9.

Round 3 voting will take place from 11 a.m. Central Tuesday,
May 10, through 2 p.m. Central Monday, May 16.

The other Round 1 matchups are Aleksander Barkov of the
Florida Panthers against Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, Connor McDavid of the
Edmonton Oilers against Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers and Vladimir
Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues against Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay
Lightning.

Pavelski scored five goals in the Sharks’ 4-1 series win over the Los Angeles Kings in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs earlier this month. The Sharks will host the Nashville Predators for Game 1 of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 9:30 p.m. Central Friday, April 29.

Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. Central Sunday, May 1, with Game 3 at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, and Game 4 at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 5. The first two
games of that series would be broadcast on NBC Sports Network, with Game 3 on
the USA Network and Game 4 on CNBC.