The share of Canadians in the league dropped to 75% by the 1980s and is now slightly less than 50%. Stats: 632 Games Played 262 Wins 2.56 GAA .917 Save Percentage Czech. Even though he was the third pick at the NHL entry draft, he played in the AHL until 2017 when he began his NHL career. Percentage of NHL Players by Nationality 20192020 Stats. What percentage of Canadian hockey players make it to the NHL? Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. See also How Many Indian Reserves Are There In Canada? Statistics are current through the end of the 2021-22 NHL season and players currently playing in the National Hockey League are marked in boldface.. All players are listed by the current country of the players' birth location . The NHLs greatest of all time made the sport popular in the United States, after his move to Los Angeles Kings with his matches making headlines, and tickets being sold out. Avid fan. Later on, he moved to the Czech Republic to get professional training. 10:00. 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. Level of interest in NHL in the United States as of December 2021, by ethnicity. Copyright 2023 The Win Column, All Rights Reserved. Rk Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 42.8%: 42.7% . November 17, 2022. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. This is on par with last year. 26 NHL players come from the Central European country. Conversely, there are 12 teams tied for the least diverse with five countries represented on their roster. Odds, Scores and Schedule; NHL Standings; . Yet another Colorado Avalanche player, forward Mikko Rantanen, who was born in Nousiainen, Finland, leads his NHL countrymen with 62 points. Spotrac. Major League Baseball is a professional baseball league in Canada and the United States, and is widely regarded as the best league for the sport in the world. Additionally, there are players born in three more countries: Bulgaria, Great Britain, and Uzbekistan. Collapse. On top of playing in the league at the age of 44, Chara also stands out for being the tallest player to ever play in the league. In the NHL, 42% of players are from Canada. However, the local leagues lessen the demand for players to come and play in the United States or Canada. Rk Nationality Players GP G A . Nathan Walker is a Welsh-born Australian ice hockey who still plays in the NHL. Read More What Is AAV In Ice Hockey?Continue, Hockey skates are one of young hockey players most important skating gear. FS Jevon Holland, Miami Dolphins, Coquitlam, B.C. Every Canadian Olympic hockey team boasts an elite NHL roster that includes many of the leagues stars. Slovak goaltender Jaroslav Halak is still putting up good numbers as well and he may make one final run as Slovakias Olympic goaltender. The players that will be listed below are players that are citizens by birth (native-born). This was during the expansion era of the NHL when the NHL went from six to twelve teams. [8] In 2011, the NHL was composed of 93% of players who identified as white, with the remaining 7% identifying as varying ethnicities. 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. As of 2020, 57.5% of NFL players were Black, 0.4% Hispanic or Latinx, 0.1% Asian, 1.6% Pacific Islander, and 0.2% American Indian. Rk Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 42.6%: 42.9% . Default Timer. Hockey is globally known as Canadas game, and while that might still be true today, there are several countries that have closed the gap in the past decade or so. Some of the best NHL players by nationality. Gerry Geran is the first American-born player to play in the NHL. On January 18, 1958, Willie O'Ree became the first Black Canadian to play in the NHL. Czechia, formerly the Czech Republic and one half of Czechoslovakia before that, is the last nation to provide a whole NHL teams roster-worth of players. The highest paid player is Auston Matthews at $15,910,000 USD, while 161 players are paid the league minimum of $700,000 USD. This season, of the 17 countries represented, four have just a single player in the league. As of November 2022, the country with the highest number of active National Hockey League (NHL) players was Canada, with 993 active NHL players. Theres really no risk of Voracek catching him though, with Jagr holding a nearly 1,200-point lead over his compatriot. These are the top-ten players of Asian descent by career points, goals, and assists. The Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders follow closely with just two players not from North America. United States citizens constitute 28.1% of the NHL's total roster. Rk Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 415: 15 526: 2507: 4253: 6760: 8747: 536: 75: 386: 2 United States: 265: 10 217: 1625: 2735: 4360: . That's 269 hockey players, with 26 of them being goalies. The Penguins have the lowest non-North American representation with just five players. 29 %. Historically speaking, some may think Germany doesnt have a significant presence in the NHL. Well, the NHL is based in North America, so it would be safe to assume that the players either come from Canada or the United States. Where do most NHL players come from? As you know, the foundation of this article will be looking into the classification of NHL players nationalities, by country of origin and percentage of international players in different years. 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. Finlands best may not be as flashy as Swedens but it includes Aleksander Barkov and Mikko Rantanen. Names like Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are not Canadian-like names because they are the names of two Russian players in the NHL. Fourth place is nothing to scoff at; its a very strong Finnish. Of the 711 players on season-opening rosters, 294 of them, or 41.4%, are from Canada. Flames Visual Recap 54: Calgary blows two-goal lead to lose in overtime again. Take those 44 Quebec born players out of Canadas total and Canada has 300 NHL players. Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 485: 21 346: 3344: 5753: 9097: 11 288: 600: 82: 479: 2 United States: 317: . On the year, the Carolina Hurricanes have accumulated 203 goals . and has won 53.8 percent of his face-offs in 43 games this season. In terms of birth country though, Bulgaria (Alexandar Georgiev), Great Britain (Nathan Walker), and Uzbekistan (Arthur Kaliyev) join the list. Canada is the country with the largest concentration of NHL players. Washingtons Daniel Sprong is the only NHL Dutchman. Show publisher information Flames Visual Recap 54: Calgary blows two-goal lead to lose in overtime again. 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 23 players, 15 are forwards, six are defensemen, and two are goaltenders. 3 overall in 2014, now tied with Ottawa Senators rookie Tim Stutzle) on his own merits. The USA is a not-so-close second at 27%, down 1% from last year. Tiny Slovenia, with a population of a little over two-million people, is well represented by their only NHL player, Anze Kopitar. The leagues international appeal comes in large part from the international makeup of each NHL teams roster. What percentage of NHL are American? Percentage. A scale is included on the right to explain how many players each color represents. rosters at the start of this 2022-23 season, six and a half years ago, it was roughly half, first Soviet NHL player in Sergei Pryakhin, departures to the Kontinental Hockey League, Maple Leafs Roster Moves Mean Trade is Imminent, NHL Trade Bait List for the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, Wild Check-In: Kaprizov, Hartman, Middleton & Defense, Sharks Mike Grier Leading Organization in the Right Direction, 5 Takeaways From Kraken Losses to the Bruins and Leafs, Sabres News & Rumors: Cozens, Hinostroza, Stillman & Houser, 4 Takeaways from Ducks Win Over Blackhawks, Golden Knights Offense Comes Out Flat in Barbashevs Debut, Canadiens News and Rumors: Edmundson, Deadline and More, 3 Takeaways From Kyle Dubas Post-Trade Presser, Lightning Add Grit to Lineup with Addition of Tanner Jeannot, Sharks Meier Trade Provides Framework for Future Deals, Kraken Embarking on Their Biggest Road Trip of The Season, Canucks News & Rumors: Kravtsov, Stillman, Kerfoot & More, Oilers Need to Follow the Lightnings Trade Deadline Strategy, Flames Trevor Lewis Could Prove Useful for Several Playoff Teams, Bruins & Red Wings Could Make Big Trade at 2023 Trade Deadline. Only 11 Swiss players are in the NHL, but it is a pretty good group of 11. Slovenia 1: Los Angeles Kings star Anze Kopitar is also the first Slovenian to ever play in the NHL, setting a great example for aspiring hockey players in his country. Please note that the data gathered is the nationality of players used by the NHL, not the birthplace of players. 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. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers each have three Russians on their roster. Analyzing the NHL trade deadline board: Numbers behind the names. You need to be a highly skilled hockey player, of course, but if you happen to be a highly skilled player from Zimbabwe, you can play in the NHL if you really want. 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. The Nordic countries and Russia provide the largest number of foreign NHL players. Canada still leads with the most players by country, but the U.S. isnt far behind, and there are now 17 active countries with players in the NHL. Several new nations are joining the fold and becoming fixtures in the hockey landscape. . Figure 3 is a heat map that plots the origin countries of NHL players. From here on, Europe takes the reins for providing the NHL with its players. Research expert covering sports and video gaming. There were 259 Canadian forwards (53.7%), 123 defenders (48%) and 35 goalies (53%) and they made up 51.8% of the NHL. The minimum salary for an NHL player is $525,000 per year. Sign up for our 'DAILY BEST Newsletter' for the latest & greatest hockey news & analysis. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 435: 21 124: 3337: 5520: 8857: 10 023: 620: 106: 514: 2 United States: 286: . We have previously established that Russian NHL coverage is focused on following Russian players. These countries are Australia (Nathan Walker), Austria (Michael Raffl), Slovenia (Anze Kopitar), Netherlands (Daniel Sprong), and Norway (Mats Zuccarello). The spike in the popularity of ice hockey in the United States is mostly due to Wayne Gretzky. At the beginning of the season, the New Jersey Devils has six players from outside the Big Six. In 2010, about 20.5% of the players on opening night rosters were Americans. . According to an article by USA Today, 97% of the NHL is white, while the other 3% is made of different ethnicities. Nathan was selected by the Washington Capitals during the third round of the 2014 NHL draft. Who owns the Minnesota Wild? Hockey is as popular as its ever been in the States, which is not just emphasized by the number of NHL players, but the success of its international teams. Above, the MLB logo is photographed on . With the NHL gaining popularity among nations around the world, more international presence is being felt within the league as a result of increasing NHL players nationalities. 5h ago. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. This may not seem impressive for a league where 25 of the 32 teams are based in the US, but the number of American players in the league has been growing. 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. A few years after the formation of the NHL in 1917, 44 (91.7%) of its players were Canadian. With an all-time high of players born outside of North America, Canadian-born players made up just 49.7 per cent of the 624 players to appear in a game in the first two weeks of the 2015-16 season. Hockey might still be dominated by the Big Six, but the winds of change are blowing. NHL Totals by Nationality - 2018-2019 Regular Season Stats. Timer. Rk Nationality Players GP G A P PIM PPG SHG GWG; 1 Canada: 414: 15 167: 2451: 4153: 6604: 8550: 528: 72: 380: 2 United States: 263: 9951: 1586: 2656: 4242: 4492: 314: 49: 230: 3 . But what about names like Radek Faksa (center for the Dallas Stars) or Alexander Ovechkin (left wing/captain of the Washington Capitals)? Cleats are always the easy starting point. More and more countries will get representation in the NHL, and perhaps one year soon, Canada will lose its 1st place spot on the list of largest player contributors. four games, without scoring a point, though. = Technically, Gus Forslund was the first Swedish player in the NHL, back in the 1932-33 season. Percentage of NHL Players by Nationality 20222023 Stats. Sixty-two players didn't, or haven't yet, made the NHL at all, and 10 players appeared in just one NHL game. Other international NHL fans are probably following the NHL to see the hockey triumphs of their compatriots. Massachusetts: 27: 4: Michigan: 41: What nationality is most represented in the NHL? Welsh-born Nathan Walker will be the only Australian in the NHL if he gets promoted again from the AHL. Could there be a trade brewing between the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes? There are 73 Swedish players scattered across the league, dwarfing the 46 Finnish and 42 Russian player counts. Although NHL games take place in North America, entry into the league is open to any country worldwide. The 29-year-old has posted decent underlying numbers Calgary controlled just over 50 percent of the expected goals at 5-on-5 when Ritchie was on the ice, in admittedly sheltered minutes. Since then the national presence of players from the United States has only increased, with their percentage currently making up 27.20% of all NHL players for the 2022-23 season. Currently there are eight Slovaks in the NHL. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Tampa Bay played 21 players across their 23 game playoff run. In the 1951-52 season, 143 (93.5%) of all NHL players were Canadian. 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, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, Latvia, France, Belarus, Australia, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, and Slovenia. Finland has the fourth largest group of players with 46. Fast forward to 2019 where the league has 31 teams and more players. The average team has 1.6 players from outside Big Six countries or just around 5% of their roster/taxi squad/IR. 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. 57.5 percent of NFL players are Black or African-American, . As of 9 October 2020 , 61 goaltenders and 561 skaters ( forwards and defencemen) have appeared in at least one regular-season and/or playoff game with the Canucks since the team joined the NHL in the . Looking at the rosters of each team in the NHL shows an interesting rainbow of nationalities spread throughout the league. Hockey might still be dominated by the Big Six, but the winds of change are blowing. What do pro hockey players make? The only exceptions are Russians who were born in a non-Russian Soviet Socialist Republic under the Soviet Union (such as Anton Khudobin) or Siberia (such as Kirill Kaprizov). His day view in the NHL was when he appeared in three games in the 1969-70 NHL season. Could there be a trade brewing between the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes? Since that time up until today, there has been a gradual but consistent decrease in the domination of Canadians in the NHL. Granted, two Olympic silver medals for the mens team since the turn of the century is hardly ground-breaking, but the womens team is routinely a contender, winning the gold in South Korea in 2018. By birth country, a few more countries are added to the chart. It may be called the National Hockey League, but it sure feels more like it could be an international one. The USA is a not-so-close second at 28%. Mertens has a 69.7% winning percentage in service games when playing on hard courts, and a 42.1% winning percentage in return games. That being said, were still not at a point where we can say that any country is on a level playing field with Canada.