As a young hockey fan, Trevor Zegras would dream about pulling off video-game moves as an NHL player. Now he’s on the cover of “NHL 23,” a video game that features a move named in his honor that he made famous as an Anaheim Ducks rookie sensation last season.
“It’s weird. I mean, I grew up on this video game, right? Like, all me and my buddies would do is get together, pass the controllers around and play. It’s just a game that we all love,” the 21-year-old told ESPN recently. “It’s all kind of is coming full circle and I’m pretty excited about it.”
Zegras is one of two “NHL 23” cover athletes, appearing alongside Team Canada star Sarah Nurse. The game will be released on Oct. 14. He becomes the first Anaheim player to grace the cover in North America (former Ducks Teemu Selanne and Jonas Hiller were featured on international editions).
While appearing on the cover is surreal, having “The Zegras” officially added to an EA Sports game is beyond his wildest reveries. “I’m pretty excited about that. That’s gonna be pretty crazy,” he said.
For those who haven’t watched a highlight reel in the past nine months, “The Zegras” was a move that the Ducks forward pulled off in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 7, 2021.
With five Buffalo defenders surrounding their net, Zegras moved the puck back and forth before lifting the disc onto his stick. Instead of attempting a lacrosse-style shot into the top corner of the net — another Zegras signature move — he instead lofted a pass over the goal cage and Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen toward Anaheim teammate Sonny Milano, the lone offensive player in that herd of Buffalo defenders. Milano knocked it into the net for the NHL season’s most spectacular scoring play and a career-defining moment for Zegras.
It was the kind of highlight that broke through the hockey bubble onto every sports news highlight package and talk show, the kind of moment that captures the imagination of fans and fellow athletes alike. Not only were amateur hockey players attempting to recreate the pass in practices and games, but they were also finding ways to trick the EA Sports artificial intelligence to bring it into “NHL 22” action, recording their attempts on social media clips.
“I saw a bunch of videos of kids trying to create it,” Zegras said. “Almost like glitching the puck over the net, which was pretty cool to see.”
For years, the EA Sports tagline was “if it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” But just because something happens in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – NHL…