Instead of just one athlete cover, EA Sports chose to go with three of the same family, choosing Jack, Luke and Quinn Hughes for the cover of NHL 25.
Jack and Luke, who are teammates with the New Jersey Devils, and Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn are the first siblings to cover an NHL series and are believed to be the first family to cover a sports game franchise.
NHL 25 will be released on October 4, the same day the season opens with the Buffalo Sabers facing Jack, Lukas and Satan in the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic.
“I think all of us are just honored because it’s hard to cover and there are a lot of good players in the league,” said Quinn Hughes, the Norris Trophy winner as the top defenseman in the NHL. “For them to decide to attach the brand to the three of us is quite good.”
3 Brothers
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Hockey has seen the brothers before, with more than 200 having made it to the NHL. The latest Hughes with the opportunity to become one of the most memorable family of the game.
His father, Jim, was a captain at Providence before serving as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was later promoted to director of player development. His mother, Ellen, played hockey as a three-sport athlete at the University of New Hampshire. She was a member of the United States women’s national team that won a silver medal at the 1992 world championships, then was an assistant coach for the UNH women’s hockey and soccer teams before becoming a broadcaster.
“I think I grew up on (video) games,” Luke Hughes said. “I don’t think our parents let us have it that young. I think our first couple games were NHL 14, 15, 16. (Players like) Patrice Bergeron and Marty Brodeur, I think when we came in. that, and we just played together and have fun.”
EA introduced the franchise in 1991 with Los Angeles Kings goaltender Glenn Healy as the first cover athlete. The following year the only other time the game had three athletes cover with Philadelphia Flyers center Rod Brind’Amour and New York Rangers duo Randy Moller and Mike Richter.
Chris Haluke, one of the game’s senior producers, said NHL 25 will have a strong emphasis on skating through the new “Ice-Q” feature designed to make the game more realistic and played a role in choosing all three Hughes brothers to cover.
“Just having his skating ability, the way he plays, the way he’s a playmaker, his offensive and defensive explosiveness — there’s a lot that matches his skilled style of play,” Haluke said. “We felt it was a direct match and helped influence what we were trying to accomplish with ‘Ice-Q’ and the overall feature.”
All three brothers are standout youth players who will go on to play in the United States National Team Development Program. Founded in 1996, this initiative was designed to advance hockey in America and has produced NHL stars such as Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk, among others.
This led to Quinn, who starred at the University of Michigan, being drafted seventh by the Canucks in 2018. The following year, the Devils selected Jack with the first pick of the so-called “Jack Hughes draft,” and two years later. , they selected Luke, who also starred at Michigan, with the fourth pick.
“It’s a hard thing to cover, and there are so many great players in the league. For them to decide to attach a brand with the three of us is pretty cool.
Canucks captain Quinn Hughes
On December 5, the three Hughes brothers played against each other in the NHL for the first time. This is only the second time an American family has had three siblings in the same game and the ninth time in NHL history. The Devils won 6-5 with Jack scoring three points, Luke scoring a goal and Quinn finishing with two points.
The Hughes brothers have earned several individual and team awards and won medals at various international events, and are now the face of an NHL franchise that wants to be a long-term contender and Stanley Cup champion.
He can add being the face of NHL 25 to his list of accomplishments.
“This is obviously a pretty special accolade and something I think every NHLer wants to accomplish or grows up and thinks, ‘Wow, it would be really cool on the cover,'” Jack Hughes said. “We were growing up, and it was another really special opportunity that we grabbed when it came to us, and I think we’re very excited about the final product.”