EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts to distribute video games based on sports. They have created, produced and distributed video games featuring the National Hockey League players, teams, and arenas since 1991.

The cover spot had become a status symbol of sorts as many of the top players in the league have appeared on the cover of either standard releases or specialized local covers for certain markets.

Installments

 * {{Note|†|†}}as NHL Hockey
 * {{Note|‡|‡}}Joe Thornton was originally chosen, but EA switched to Dany Heatley after Thornton was accused of assaulting two police officers. Thornton's cover was never produced. After the 2003–04 season had begun, Heatley was involved in a car crash that killed teammate Dan Snyder, prompting EA to switch covers to one featuring Joe Sakic.
 * {{Note|‡|‡|‡}}Patrick Kane was originally slated to share the cover with teammate Jonathan Toews, however, following sexual assault claims made against Kane, he was dropped from the cover.
 * {{Note|EU|EU}}in Europe; {{Note|DEN|DEN}}in {{flag|Denmark|size=15px}}; {{Note|FIN|FIN}}in {{flag|Finland|size=15px}}; {{Note|RUS|RUS}}in {{flag|Russia|size=15px}}; {{Note|SWE|SWE}}in {{flag|Sweden|size=15px}}; {{Note|SUI|SUI}} in {{flag|Switzerland|size=13px}}; {{Note|CZE|CZE}}in {{flag|Czech Republic|size=15px}}