Another ageless veteran, Nicklas Lidstrom is one of the easiest picks on this list. Hockey blog providing critical analysis on trends and stats for the Calgary Flames, NHL, and more. For four consecutive years, the first overall pick in the NHL Draft has been a player that was not from Canada. No team has multiple players from either country, and the Edmonton Oilers are the only team that has one from each. If he steps down this season, the best Finnish forward distinction will fall to one of the Koivus, most likely Mikko. The Finnish Flash, if he returns this season, probably won't be expected to produce his miraculous 80-point season that he had last year at the ripe old age of 41. After playing for five different teams in his career, Hossa has found a crucial role as a secondary Blackhawks scorer behind Toews and Kane.
Four teams lead the rest of the pack with three players from non Big Six countries: the Predators, Islanders, Senators, and Capitals. Here in this list are the top nine hockey nations and three of their respective stars. A 2020 update of this breakdown can be found here. Buy his book. If someone can find something more current, then please post it. Thanks to Redditor /u/miner88 for pointing out the error. Here’s hoping for NHL participation in a best-on-best tournament soon. Kiprusoff, Niemi, Lehtonen, Backstrom and Rask all have supreme skill and have shown why they can be No. This one is a bit of a stretch. This is actually one of the hardest picks I had to make for this list. And that’s because they aren’t; Faksa was born in Opava in the Czech Republic and Ovechkin was born in Moscow, Russia. As hockey and the NHL grows more and more popular, more nationalities will become represented in the league. Thomas Greiss is one of the only German goaltenders actually signed by an NHL team. However, Thomas is on the top of the world right now and credit must be given where credit is due. Hamrilik was the only other option on this list and although he is a solid defender, Kaberle has shown he is worth more. At this year’s U20 World Junior Championship, Switzerland finished in fourth place, and their leading scorer, Phliipp Kurashev, ranked seventh in the whole tournament.
Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Out of North American players, the Blues lead the league with 17 Canadians and the Devils lead with 14 Americans. Weber wins because of his supreme skill in all three areas of the ice, not just the offensive zone.
Halak has proven that he is a No. Now, hockey is mostly dominated by the Big Six: Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic. As hockey and the NHL grows more and more popular, more nationalities will become represented in the league. Ehrhoff has proven over the years that he can be an elite offensive threat from the blue line even if he occasionally gets in trouble defensively. The game is growing, and it’s great. Of the 690 players onseason-opening rosters, 295 of them, or 42.8%, are from Canada.
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Although Kesler is steadily proving that he is a second line scoring threat, he narrowly loses in this debate to Patrick Kane. Next season, Ovechkin will once again prove why he is an elite scorer in the NHL and why he is the first option on this list. Awards: Calder Trophy (2007-08), Stanley Cup (2009-10). Rinne, however, has shown flashes of being more than just an elite goaltender. There have been 24 winter Olympic games that have had men’s ice hockey, and these five nations have won 65 out of 72 total medals awarded, or 90%. It’s a completely different story this season, where only five teams do not have multiple players from outside the Big Six. Thanks for reading! All rights reserved. Expect Rinne to keep Nashville in contention for years to come with his netminding. Looking at his career numbers, awards and accolades, Chara is the obvious choice for the best defenseman from Slovakia. Bryzgalov has posted phenomenal numbers and has been the main reason why Phoenix has had some regular season success for the past two years. On an interesting note, Hossa played in three consecutive Stanley Cup finals before finally winning with Chicago in 2010. Awards: Vezina Trophy (2008-09, 2010-11), Conn Smythe (2010-11), Stanley Cup (2010-11).