Team USA and Vancouver Canucks Center Ryan Kesler has been chosen by 2K to be their cover athlete for the upcoming Wii only title NHL 2K 11. After scoring a late goal in Team USA's first meeting with Canada in the Olympics, USA fell to Canada in overtime of the Gold Medal game.

Kesler is already a very well-established international player after taking home Gold Medals in the 2002 World 18U Championship and 2004 World Junior Championship. With his 2010 Winter Olympics Silver Medal in hand, he will get another chance at Gold in Russia in 2014 (assuming the NHL agrees to play along).

Kesler, who was asked to be on the cover the day after winning his Silver Medal, is not a stranger to 2K as he has been working with 2K sports over the last four years as a consultant on the NHL 2K series. "It's a dream come true for me. ... I grew up playing and to be on the cover of 2K is unbelievable," Kesler Said.

This will be the first time since NHL 2K2 that the series has not appeared on a Sony or Microsoft console. 2K has opted to only release NHL 2K11 on the Nintendo Wii this year while they re-tool their PS3 and Xbox 360 versions to give EA's NHL series a stronger challenge in the years to come.

Hopefully, Ryan Kesler on the cover will can satisfy a large range of North American hockey video game players, since he is an American playing for a Canadian team. He should also be able to tow the line of great hockey players to grace the cover of the 2K series along with Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Rick Nash and most recently, Alexander Ovechkin.

Expect 2K Sports NHL 2K11 to be out this fall exclusively on the Nintendo Wii

Source: TSN