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Where They're From: Stanley Cup Final Edition

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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 Ca_medium 333 26 Mike Richards Ca_medium 370 21
Patrick Kane Us_medium
305 20 Danny Briere Ca_medium 328 18
David Bolland Ca_medium 296 10 Claude Giroux Ca_medium 324 17
Marian Hossa Sk_medium
287 11 Scott Hartnell Ca_medium 266 8
Patrick Sharp Ca_medium 286 16 Simon Gagne Ca_medium 232 10
Kris Versteeg Ca_medium 267 9 Darroll Powe Ca_medium 224 0
Dustin Byfuglien Us_medium 250 10 Blair Betts Ca_medium 207 1
Andrew Ladd Ca_medium 209 3 James van Riemsdyk Us_medium 205 4
John Madden Ca_medium 189 1 Ville Leino Fi_medium
204 12
Troy Brouwer Ca_medium 147 3 Arron Asham Ca_medium 195 5
Tomas Kopecky Sk_medium 146 4 Daniel Carcillo Ca_medium 160 6
Ben Eager Ca_medium 79 1 Jeff Carter Ca_medium 104 5
Adam Burish Us_medium 68 0 Andreas Nodl At_medium
85 0
Bryan Bickell Ca_medium 53 1 Ian Laperriere Ca_medium 79 1
Colin Fraser Ca_medium 25 0 Jared Ross Us_medium 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 Ca_medium
446 10 Chris Pronger Ca_medium 490 14
Brent Seabrook Ca_medium 381 9 Kimmo Timmonen Fi_medium
452 8
Niklas Hjlamarsson Se_medium
339 5 Matt Carle Us_medium
432 10
Brent Sopel Ca_medium 298 3 Braydon Coburn Ca_medium 415 3
Brian Campbell Ca_medium 255 3 Lukas Krajicek Cz_medium
169 1
Jordan Hendry Ca_medium 99 0 Ryan Parent Ca_medium 126 1
Oskars Bartulis Lv_medium
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 Fi_medium
953 .921 Brian Boucher Us_medium
592 .915
Cristobal Huet Fr_medium
20 1.000 Michael Leighton Ca_medium
454 .948
Johan Backlund Se_medium
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.