Captain Jamie Benn is already the face of the franchise with the NHL鈥檚 Dallas Stars, but the Victoria resident鈥檚 popular mug may soon embrace the cover of EA Sports鈥� NHL 17 game.
The 26-year-old Peninsula Panthers鈥� product 鈥� who went on to play for the Victoria Grizzlies and Kelowna Rockets 鈥� will represent the Stars and Team sa国际传媒 in the EA Sports NHL 17 cover vote currently being conducted online via NHL.com and Twitter.
Round 1 voting 鈥� which includes Benn pitted against Florida鈥檚 Aleksander Barkov (who also represents Finland) in a head-to-head battle 鈥� ends Monday and the eventual cover champion will be announced at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas in June.
Benn鈥檚 hoping his Vancouver Island fans represent, much like they did with the Kraft Hockeyville vote.
鈥淚 sure hope so,鈥� he said over the phone Thursday afternoon from Dallas where he and the Stars are preparing for tonight鈥檚 Game 1 of a best-of-seven series against the St. Louis Blues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something fun to do and I think, for myself and friends and family, we are having some fun with it, and the Stars as well.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all fan voting. The good thing is it鈥檚 out of my hands and we鈥檒l see what we can do to get some votes,鈥� he added.
The publicity has all come with the success Benn has reached at a stage in his young life where he鈥檚 accepted the roles off the ice that come with being the team captain and a superstar.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always part of being a professional hockey player and the higher you go, the more you鈥檒l get,鈥� he said of the fanfare and spotlight. 鈥淔or myself, it was an eye-opener going to the NHL awards last year, and being around a bunch of superstars at the Olympics.
鈥淚t has brought me out of my comfort zone and I鈥檓 real comfortable with it right now,鈥� said last year鈥檚 Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL鈥檚 leading point producer.
Benn said he became more fixated on a chance to become a pro hockey player after his year with the Grizzlies in 2006-07.
鈥淓very kid growing up has that dream of playing in the NHL. It probably hit me after my first year with the Grizzlies there and I went to Kelowna. I started taking hockey a bit more seriously, especially off the ice, which was the most important thing 鈥� realizing how hard it is to play in the NHL,鈥� he stressed.
He was eventually drafted in 2007 by Dallas, in the fifth round, 129th overall and he鈥檚 producing at solid rates with 79-, 87- and 89-point seasons the last three years, missing just one game over that span. This year he finished second in points behind Chicago鈥檚 Patrick Kane.
鈥淚t starts with a mindset at the start of the year of setting a goal or two. At the start of the year I just wanted to improve on the previous year, individually, and as a team as well,鈥� said Benn. 鈥淟ast season, we underachieved, not making the playoffs. As a group we came in this year and set that goal and wanting to do something special with that. Individually, I just wanted to build off last year.鈥�
The Stars defeated Minnesota in Round 1 of the playoffs and now face St. Louis.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be real tough. St. Louis is a great team and they proved that knocking off Chicago,鈥� said Benn, whose mom, dad and sister are in Texas watching him and brother Jordie. 鈥淭hey have a real well-rounded team 鈥� great goalies, good, strong defence and the same in the forward position.鈥�
The matchup features a Ken Hitchcock vs. Lindy Ruff-coached series in a rematch of the 1999 Stanley Cup which Hitchcock won with the Stars over Ruff鈥檚 Buffalo Sabres on the controversial triple-overtime Brett Hull, toe-in-the-crease goal.
It鈥檚 the only Stanley Cup the Stars have won.
As for Benn himself, he has one year remaining on his contract, but don鈥檛 be surprised if that is renewed this summer.
鈥淚 might try and get it out of the way before next season just so that it鈥檚 not a distraction,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want it to be a distraction for this team. I just want us to focus on hockey and I can just focus on my game as well.鈥�
He鈥檒l let the fans cover the EA Sports voting process through NHL.com/covervote or with the hashtag #NHL17Benn on Twitter.
