Number of players per country that made NHL opening night rosters
There was once a time that the NHL was dominated by players from the country of Canada. That's not exactly the case anymore, as the gap between other countries continues to grow smaller.
Peter Baugh of The Athletic shared the exact number of NHL players per country that made opening night rosters. Check it out below:
The difference from 50 years ago is staggering. In 1970, Canada made up 96.1% of players in the NHL, and by 1980 that number dropped to 81.9%. And it's changed ever so much each decade since:
- Canada made up 73.9% of players in 1990.
- Canada made up 52.9% of players in 2010.
- Opening night 2022, Canada will make up just over 40%.
The United States (and others) are slowly closing that gap as hockey is becoming bigger and bigger on the international stage.
And here is how the Boston Bruins' roster looks per country:
USA: 11 (Coyle, Foligno, Frederic, Smith, Carlo, Clifton, Forbort, Grzelcyl, McAvoy, Reilly, Swayman)
Canada: 6 (Bergeron, DeBrusk, Greer, Hall, Marchand, Studnicka)
Czechia: 6 (Krejci, Lauko, Nosek, Pastrnak, Zacha, Zboril
Sweden: 3 (Lindholm, Stralman, Ullmark)
FUN FACT: The Bruins' Czech players make up 20% of entire NHL.
