2K Sports announced on Tuesday that Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for the next iteration of the popular NHL 2K franchise, NHL® 2K10. 

The Hart Trophy candidate, who lead the NHL in goals scored (56) for the second consecutive season. Ovechkin has become one of the most recognizable faces of the NHL in only his fourth season and will bring his electrifying personality and unmatched passion for the game to NHL 2K10 this year.

"It's an incredible honor," Ovechkin said. "I look forward to working with 2K Sports to make NHL 2K10 the most fun and amazing hockey video game experience ever.  I can't wait to put some of my moves in there."

In celebration of the announcement, Ovechkin participated in 2K Sports' first-ever outdoor hockey motion capture session on Tuesday night in the Roman Plaza at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  Joining Ovechkin on the ice was Vancouver Canucks center and 2009 Selke Trophy finalist, Ryan Kesler, along with play-by-play commentator for the San Jose Sharks, Randy Hahn, who hosted the event.

The 2009 NHL Awards™ will take place on Thursday in Las Vegas, and Ovechkin is one of three finalists that are being considered for the highly coveted Hart Memorial Trophy, an annual award given to the player judged to be the most valuable to his team. The winner is selected via a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association in all NHL cities held at the end of the regular season.  Ovechkin is also a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award, which honors the NHL’s most outstanding player as selected by the members of the NHL Players’ Association.  Ovechkin was the winner of both awards last year, and has already received this year’s Maurice “Rocket” Richard Award for leading the NHL in goals scored during the regular season.

Developed by Visual Concepts, NHL® 2K10 is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this fall for Wii™ system from Nintendo, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.  For more information, please visit www.2ksports.com/games/nhl2k10.