Charting the Nationality of NHL Players

The Four Nations tourney is well underway–with teams from Canada, the U.S., Sweden, and Finland–featuring many of the best hockey talent in the world.

Of course, these four nations have wildly different population sizes and rates of hockey participation. The chart above shows the NHL talent each country can draw upon to form their teams. Canada has historically had the largest talent pool, however, that is changing over time.

USA Rising

Over the past two decades, Hockey enrollment has increased in nearly every U.S. state, expanding from traditional hubs like Michigan, Minnesota and Massachusetts. In fact, if current trends continue, American skaters will outnumber Canadians within the next 15 years.