Americans make up more than a quarter of all NHL players. Pudas was also raised in Canada, Stats: 632 Games Played 262 Wins 2.56 GAA .917 Save Percentage Czech. Leading Belgian national team players at FIFA World Cup 2018, by market . Notable Finnish Player: Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkovs name may sound Russian, but its actually his fathers, almost literally. Teams included in the chart below, and all subsequent charts breaking down nationality are as follows in order: Canada, United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, France, Austria, Slovenia, Belarus, Netherlands, and Norway. Research expert covering sports and video gaming. Your email address will not be published. iwanickiconnor Follow. Finlands population totals to roughly 5.5 million people. The leagues international appeal comes in large part from the international makeup of each NHL teams roster. Hockey Player Demographics and Statistics In The US - Zippia But what about names like Radek Faksa (center for the Dallas Stars) or Alexander Ovechkin (left wing/captain of the Washington Capitals)? The Czech Republic also provides the NHL with 4.5% of its goalies, with 4 out of the 40 Czech players being goaltenders. This is significantly lower than the start of the season where the average was 1.3 players and 5%. What other nations have enough hockey infrastructure to send a large number of players to the NHL? Austria 2 (0.3%): The title of most accomplished Austrian-born NHLer has been passed to Seattle Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky, who represents Sweden internationally. What is the percentage of nationalities in the NHL? Rumors have swirled that Nylander could play on the Swedish Olympic team but at the moment it seems he will not be on Swedens squad for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. Canada and the United States make up the majority of players in the NHL (70%), but even within the Big Six, North Americans account for 74% of players. If the patterns of nationality in the NHL are any indication, the league will continue to diversify in the future. Percentage of Active NHL Players by Nationality Career Stats. By birth country, a few more countries are added to the chart. There are 73 Swedish players scattered across the league, dwarfing the 46 Finnish and 42 Russian player counts. Default Timer. Of the 91 players, 6 of them are goaltenders. (Source: Matt Armour & Daniel R. Levitt, Baseball Demographics) According to UPI | Number of MLB Players by Nationality: United States of America - 525 . Teams included in the chart below, and all subsequent charts are as follows in order: Canada, United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, France, Austria, Slovenia, Belarus, Netherlands, and Norway. However, after a year, he left the NHL for a french team after the collapse of the Montreal Wanderers NHL team. Furthermore, he also won the Hart in 2020. Well, that was the past, now the NHL is more than just a Canadian or North American league. Over the past eleven years that percentage has jumped 6% to 26.5% of the NHL. Even from the graph above, its easy to see that the Big Six, or the nations of Canada, United States, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Russia are still the most represented countries in the NHL. Stopwatch. Two of those previous four picks were Europeans, something that just didnt used to happen very often. Their surge up the international chartsand the draft boardsignals a new era of ice hockey, where victory for the Canadians is no longer guaranteed. display: none !important; The Black Hawks great passed away in 2018 as a Hockey Hall of Famer and arguably one of the greatest of all time, whatever the country. Josi has been excellent this year and Meier is currently averaging over a point per game. A total of 21 countries have players in the league. NHL; NHL DRAFT; AHL; KHL; SHL; LIIGA; NLA; DEL; OHL; QMJHL; WHL; . Canada still leads with the most players by country, but the U.S. isn't far behind, and there are now 17 active countri It obviously didnt work out for him from a championship perspective, although he continues to ply his trade as a well-respected bottom-six forward. In the coming years, it is possible for a country like the US, which is a close second to Canada in player dominance, to eventually have the highest percentage of players in the league. }, Make your own pro-style baseball card complete with statistics, bio data and trivia, Make your own pro-style football card complete with stats using Starr Cards, World record fastest badminton smashes with Tan Boon Heong and Mads Pieler Kolding, Make your own pro-style basketball card on the iPhone complete with stats, Rafael Nadal will pilot your smoking helicopter, sore wrist and all, No ifs, ands, or butts: Giving the derriere its due across each of the major team sports, Remembering AB de Villiers fastest ODI century in cricket history off 31 balls, Bend It Like Beckham: Why soccer balls curve one way and smooth balls curve backwards. Gerry would eventually come back to the NHL during the 1925-26 season to play for the Boston Bruins before finally leaving for the American Hockey Association. Those two names dont quite sound North American. The National Hockey League (NHL) is the number 1 Professional Ice, Read More Who Are The Original Six? Although Russia is a big hockey-playing country with a sizeable population, most players tend to stay within the country to play the sport. Minnesota Active NHL Players Totals by Birth State - Career Stats. 28. If youre going for Austrian through and through, then youve got Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi. Earnings. There are seven NHL teams located in Canada. Finland has the fourth largest group of players with 46. ", Spotrac, Number of active players in the NHL in 2022, by country Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1279112/nhl-player-count-by-country/ (last visited March 04, 2023), Number of active players in the NHL in 2022, by country [Graph], Spotrac, November 17, 2022. That's 269 hockey players, with 26 of them being goalies. This shows the national diversity currently in the NHL. Unlike FIFA, players do not register with a country, so nationality is often disputed when . How many NHL players have played for the Vancouver Canucks? The spike in the popularity of ice hockey in the United States is mostly due to Wayne Gretzky. The NHL expects all but a few players to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 when the regular season begins Oct. 12 and hopes all players will be fully vaccinated at some point during the season. In the NHL, 43% of players are from Canada, an uptick of 1% from last year. The hockey centre was born in Wales and began playing the sport locally in his hometown. Ullmark, who helped the Atlantic Division capture a championship in his NHL All-Star Game debut, posted a flawless month, going 6-0-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average and .947 save percentage as . Slovenia is represented by Anze Kopitar, a center for the Los Angeles Kings. For the past few years, The Win Column has done a breakdown for every team in the NHL based on nationality (see 2019, 2020, 2021, and the beginning of the 202122 season here). What's the probability of making the NHL? - Sport of millions Canada Percentage of Active NHL Players by Nationality Career Stats. Give Up Hint Answer; Russian Hockey Player (WSH) Russian Hockey Player (PIT) . During the era of the original six, to the expansion era and 1970s, the number of Canadians in the game was about 90% of total NHL players nationalities. Breaking down each NHL team's roster by nationality - 2021 A 2012 report by ESPN found that black players made up only 6.7 percent of the NHL, compared to 57.8 percent in the NBA and 21 percent in MLB. Please note that the data gathered is the nationality of players used by the NHL, not the birthplace of players. Boasting two Silver Olympic medals for the mens team and a gold medal in the 2018 Olympics for the womens team, the U.S. teams also have five consecutive International Ice Hockey Federation world titles. Flames Visual Recap 54: Calgary blows two-goal lead to lose in overtime again. NHL Players Nationalities: Where Are They From? | Cleats Hub Number of active players in the NHL in 2022, by country [Graph]. It is certainly Canadas largest league in every sense. Avid fan. ", "Blacks and Hockey Maintain a Tenuous Relationship", "Thrashers Top NHL With Highest Percentage of Black Players", "CBC targets Chinese hockey fans with Mandarin broadcasts of NHL playoffs", "All Things Considered: As First Black American NHL Player, Enforcer Was Defenseless Vs. 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The USA is a not-so-close second at 28%. The threat of departures to the Kontinental Hockey League looms large over the heads of general managers, but if the talent is there, Russians will always be attractive options at the NHL Entry Draft. Cleats are always the easy starting point. The Washington Capitals lead the league with six players from non-Big Six countries. It quite easy to see why. NHL Picks and Predictions . Even from the graph above, its easy to see that the Big Six, or the nations of Canada, United States, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Russia are the most represented countries in the NHL. However, the local leagues lessen the demand for players to come and play in the United States or Canada. The popularity of a sport does not always transfer over borders, even the borders of relatively culturally and historically similar countries. Black players in professional American football, History of African Americans in the Canadian Football League, "Soul on Ice: A growing number of Black players are making their mark in a league that until recently has been known for its insensitivity", "Being black in the NHL: From breaking the colour barrier to the Norris trophy", "Soul on Ice: Do hockey and Hip-Hop mix? Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins has probably been passed the torch at this point though. In the 2019-2020 season a total of 271 Canadian born players were in the NHL, which works out to 42.7% of NHL players. NHL Totals by Nationality 20222023 Stats Switzerland, perhaps surprisingly, hovers around the 10-player mark. Canada and the United States make up the majority of players in the NHL (70%), but even within the Big Six, North Americans account for 74% of players. Of those 731 players, 301 are American-born. 26 NHL players come from the Central European country. At that time the majority of the players in the National Hockey Association were from Canada, the birthplace of the NHL. High performing Russian and Japanese players have moved to the NHL and MLB to give those leagues some of their greatest stars. Some of the most notable active U.S.-born players are Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins), Zach Parise (Minnesota Wild), and Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets). Nothing could be further from the truth, seeing as he got drafted high (the highest of all Germans ever at No. Once again, most teams are composed primarily by North American players, though the separation between North America and the rest of the world is not nearly as large as it was for the Big Six. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. Percentage of NHL Players by Nationality 20222023 Stats. For the 2018-19 season, 419 (43.8%) of all NHL players are Canadian. A scale is included on the right to explain how many players each color represents. NHL Best Bets: Oilers vs. Jets Game Picks - nesn.com 3 overall in 2014, now tied with Ottawa Senators rookie Tim Stutzle) on his own merits. The emergence of international superstars like Tim Sttzle and even 2022 NHL draft eligible Marco Kasper (Austrian), the game of hockey is clearly growing overseas. As of the 2019-20 NHL season, there are 23 Russians playing in the National Hockey League. The state with the most NHL players is Minnesota, with a total of 71 players. NHL players that are not Canadians or Americans are almost exclusively from Europe. While the name Zibanejad has its origin in Farsi, New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad is also Swedish.