Where They're From: Stanley Cup Final Edition

I'm not going to be doing too much coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals here on Puck Worlds...  SB Nation has plenty of coverage going on for this marquee event.  But, in the spirit of this being an international hockey blog, let's look at how the teams break down by nationality:

Chicago Blackhawks	Nat.	Minutes	Points	Philadelphia Flyers	Nat.	Minutes	Points
Jonathan Toews		333	26	Mike Richards		370	21
Patrick Kane		305	20	Danny Briere		328	18
David Bolland		296	10	Claude Giroux		324	17
Marian Hossa		287	11	Scott Hartnell		266	8
Patrick Sharp		286	16	Simon Gagne		232	10
Kris Versteeg		267	9	Darroll Powe		224	0
Dustin Byfuglien		250	10	Blair Betts		207	1
Andrew Ladd		209	3	James van Riemsdyk		205	4
John Madden		189	1	Ville Leino		204	12
Troy Brouwer		147	3	Arron Asham		195	5
Tomas Kopecky		146	4	Daniel Carcillo		160	6
Ben Eager		79	1	Jeff Carter		104	5
Adam Burish		68	0	Andreas Nodl		85	0
Bryan Bickell		53	1	Ian Laperriere		79	1
Colin Fraser		25	0	Jared Ross		17	0

Don Cherry loves that list.  That's the forwards in this series, and they're overwhelmingly Canadian, and even more overwhelmingly North American.  22 of the 31 forwards used by the two finalists so far in these playoffs are Canadian (David Laliberte also played a single game for Philadelphia), including 10 of the two team's top six forwards.  Chicago uses Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa quite a bit (American and Slovak respectively), but Philadelphia is all-Canadian in their attack.  Perhaps it's a bit unfair for Ville Leino, who has produced quite exceptionally in these playoffs from the Flyers' third line. The Blackhawks' American contingent plays a significant role with Kane and Dustin Byfuglien providing a lot of offence, but Chicago only looks diverse in comparison to the Flyers. 

Chicago Blackhawks	Nat.	Minutes	Points	Philadelphia Flyers	Nat.	Minutes	Points
Duncan Keith		446	10	Chris Pronger		490	14
Brent Seabrook		381	9	Kimmo Timmonen		452	8
Niklas Hjlamarsson		339	5	Matt Carle		432	10
Brent Sopel		298	3	Braydon Coburn		415	3
Brian Campbell		255	3	Lukas Krajicek		169	1
Jordan Hendry		99	0	Ryan Parent		126	1
				Oskars Bartulis		24	0

The defense for the Flyers is more diverse, but Chicago is heavy on the Canadians.  While Niklas Hjalmarsson has had a very strong and underrated playoff, it's still Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook's team, with solid support from Brent Sopel and Brian Campbell.  Philadelphia rides their top 4 defensemen hard, with Chris Pronger getting the most icetime.  American Matt Carle helps out offensively, while Finnish star Kimmo Timmonen helps at both ends of the rink.  The lone Czech player in the series is Lukas Krajicek, who sees some power play time but has had little production.  Latvia's Oskars Bartulis is Philly's 7th d-man. 

Chicago Blackhawks	Nat.	Minutes	SV%	Philadelphia Flyers	Nat.	Minutes	SV%
Antti Niemi		953	.921	Brian Boucher		592	.915
Cristobal Huet		20	1.000	Michael Leighton		454	.948
				Johan Backlund		1	N/A

Five different goalies, five different nationalities.  Here's the only position where diversity is the name of the game.  Michael Leighton, since returning from an injury (and replacing an injured Boucher), has been incredible to date, and will be tested greatly by the Blackhawks' powerful offense.  Antti Niemi started the playoffs off allowing a terrible goal but has been solid and at times spectacular as the Hawks look to end their NHL leading 49 year Stanley Cup drought.

So, to recap, the Flyers have used 26 different players so far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with 16 of them being Canadian, four Americans, two Finns, and a Czech, Latvian, Austrian, and Swede each.  The Blackhawks have used only 23 different players (staying healthy in the postseason is one of the least discussed, but most important aspects of a champion), with 15 Canadians, three Americans, two Slovaks, and a Swede, a Finn, and a Frenchman each.  Canadians make up 63% of the roster spots, and have scored 205 points for the Finalists. 

And one last thing Don Cherry will truly appreciate:  Zero Russians.