Things were going pretty well for Steven Stamkos in 2011. His team had made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. He could drink legally in the United States. Most importantly, his face graced the cover of a video game.
At the 2011 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, EA Sports announced that Stamkos was going to be the cover boy of their upcoming hockey game, NHL 12. The young Lightning center posed on the red carpet before the award show modeling a mock-up of the game. This was a moment that was captured by Panini America, and enshrined in their 2011-12 Pinnacle Set.