In the first semifinal, Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings takes on veteran netminder Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey Devils.

Brodeur took to the power of social media, via his Facebook page to propel himself past James van Riemsdyk of the Maple Leafs and secure his spot in the semis.

Meanwhile Datsyuk defeated Joffrey Lupul, also from the Toronto Maple Leafs in what EA Sports is calling the “hardest-fought battle of the round.”

The other semifinal has Sergei Bobrovsky from the Columbus Blue Jackets pitted against John Tavares from the New York Islanders.  Both players had an interesting quarterfinal matchup that saw the votes come down to the wire.

Tavares narrowly beat Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers who was looking to make it two years in a row that a Flyers’ player graced the cover of the game.  Last season Claude Giroux was the poster boy for NHL ’13.

Bobrovsky on the other hand upset Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers in their head to head matchup, continuing Bobrovsky’s “Cinderella run” according to EA Sports.

Now that the final four have been determined, it’s up to you the fans to help sort out who will advance to the final round and get one player closer to becoming the NHL 14 Cover Athlete champion.  You can vote as many times as you want by heading to NHL.com/CoverVote.  The voting for the semifinals will close on May 26, 2013 at 11:59 pm ET.

Courtesy of EA Sports – This year fans can double their voting power by using these player specific hashtags on “Twitter Vote Thursdays.” Each player specific hashtag used on Twitter on Thursdays will be counted as two official votes. Fans can join the conversation about the cover vote every day by using #NHL14CoverVote on Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t delay, vote now and help your favorite player of the final four make it to the finals.  The winner of the cover campaign will be revealed during the Stanley Cup Finals.

According to Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo! Sports, Bobrovsky is drawing a great deal of interest from the KHL, in particular SKA St. Petersburg.  Chesnokov notes that the KHL club is extremely interested in Bobrovsky’s services and will make him a generous offer to lure him overseas next season.

The 24-year old Russian born netminder is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and has expressed his interest in remaining in the NHL.  But as Tim Kavanagh from ESPN.com reminds us, there are some strong ties that could make the decision for Bobrovsky a difficult one.

Kavanagh notes that Bobrovsky played for SKA St. Petersburg during the lockout and performed quite well.  Kavanagh also writes that “Russian national team coach — Zinetula Bilyaletdinov” may become the head coach for SKA St. Petserburg after the 2014 Olympics, something that is said to be appealing to Bobrovsky.

Blue Jackets owner GM Jarmo Kekalainen has already stated the team will match any offer sheet that Bobrovsky receives as a RFA.  Unfortunately for the Jackets, if a Russian based club throws a pile of money at him and he has ties to his home country the way Bobrovsky does, the Blue Jackets may not be able to do a thing about it.

This past season Bobrovsky posted a 21-11-6 record in Columbus while putting up a 2.00 GAA and a .932 save percentage, both among the league leaders.

He was traded to the Blue Jackets on June 22, 2012 from the Philadelphia Flyers who were in favor of Ilya Bryzgalov at the time.  I wonder if the Flyers have any regrets about that trade?

Regardless of where he ends up playing next season, Bobrovsky will surely cash in with his next contract.  For the Blue Jackets, keeping Bobrovsky on North American soil will be detrimental to the future success of their franchise.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN via Twitter, the list of candidates is long and full of recognizable names that have coached at the game’s highest level before.  Some of them have a Stanley Cup or two on their resumes, while others are hoping this will be their big break and finally get their long awaited shot at coaching in the NHL.

The list includes former Dallas Stars bench boss Dave Tippett, who was also rumored to be in the running for the Colorado Avlanche job before Patrick Roy was given the gig.  Former Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has also been mentioned as a possibility in Vancouver along with former head coaches Tom Renney, Guy Boucher, Jacques Martin and Paul Maurice.  Scott Arniel and Dallas Eakins are those mentioned who are waiting for their first chance in the big leagues and given Arniel’s ties to the Vancouver organization as head coach of the AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, he will almost certainly be considered.  Whether or not he gets the job could come down to the Canucks’ brass wanting a rookie coach to try and lead this team to the promised land one more time before heavy decisions need to be made surrounding their roster.

Dreger also mentions that Doug Houda, Ron Wilson and Larry Robinson have been mentioned around the league as “hot commodities” to become a head coach. But as Tim Kavanagh of ESPN.com writes, they haven’t been specifically tied to the Vancouver opening.

Whomever gets the job will have a roster that is ready to win. The pressure will be on to lead this club past the first round of the playoffs and deep into the postseason.  Another cup final with a different ending than the one in 2011 is expected in Vancouver and whichever head coach takes on that challenge will surely have the eyes of all Canucks’ fans on him.

With a list this long, the Canucks will surely begin dwindling it down to a short list they are comfortable with and then start the process of weeding out the others in hopes of finding their new head coach.