ZURICH – The number of Europeans in the National Hockey League is the lowest since 1998-99, but Sweden has displaced the Czech Republic as the prime European producer of NHL talent. There were 962 players who dressed for at least one NHL game during the 2009-2010 season and 228 (23.7 per cent) were Europeans. On average, there were 7.6 Europeans per team.

Both numbers indicate the lowest European NHL participation since ’98-’99 when there were 198 Europeans or 7.33 per team.

There has been a consistent decrease of Europeans in the NHL since 2003-2004, the last season prior to the labour conflict which wiped out the 2004-2005 season. Seven years ago the NHL registered a season record number of 1,018 players and out of those 300 or 29.5 percent were from Europe.

So in seven years the percentage of European-trained players has gone down from almost one-third of the NHL’s total to less than one-fourth.

The most likely reasons are:

1. The Russian Kontinental Hockey League which in the first two years of its existence has signed a substantial number of players who otherwise may have played in the NHL. The KHL pays by far the highest salaries of the Top-7 European leagues.
2. The negative trend in junior development in all European countries except Sweden. There is a shortage of blue-chip talent coming out of Russia, Czech Republic, Finland and Slovakia in the last few years.

The latter fact is reflected both in the declining numbers of players picked in the NHL Entry Draft from those countries, as well as in their performance at the IIHF World U20 Championships in the last few years.

The recent success of the Swedish development system is a two-edged sword for the country. Many talented and well educated players are coming out of the system, but many of them are signed by NHL clubs even before they become established roster players on their club teams back home.

Due to this fact, Sweden has overtaken the Czech Republic and Russia as the No. 1 exporter of players to the NHL. The breakdown of the 228 Europeans in the league in the last season has Sweden as the leader with 54 players and with the Czechs slipping to second with 48. Finland follows with 38, while Russia had 34 NHLers last season. Slovakia is the only other country in double digits with 17.

This is a stark contrast to the first post-lockout season (2005-2006) when there were 65 Czechs in the league, 51 Russians while Sweden was third with 46. Also notable: Slovakia has lost more than 50 percent of its NHL stock in seven years; from 35 in 2003-2004 to 17 this year.

The Swedes led Europe in NHL participation every year between 1972 and 1990, starting with one player in ’72-’73 (Thommie Bergman) and peaking with 29 in 1984-85 and ’85-’86. Then, with perestroika, the Russians took over, becoming the top supplier from 1992 to 2000 and increasing numbers from 42 in ’92-’93 to 71 in 1999-2000.

Among the smaller programs, Denmark has overtaken all of its competitors, including Switzerland, Latvia, Belarus, Austria, Ukraine and neighbour Norway by sending six players to the NHL in 2009-10, a new record for the small Scandinavian country of only about 4,000 licensed players.

Overall, the smaller countries have seen an extraordinary rise in their contributions to the NHL. In 1991-92, there were only two players represented, but that number has increased steadily to an astounding 37 this past season. In addition to Denmark’s six players, Germany has contributed eight, Latvia five, and Belarus and Switzerland four each.

Looking at the NHL teams, there is no way of telling whether the number of Europeans on a team translates to success or not. Detroit and Vancouver are successful teams with 12 and 10 Europeans respectively, while Atlanta (on top of the All-European list with 13), Columbus (11) and Florida (10) are examples of struggling clubs.

Contender San Jose is comfortable with their league-low four Europeans, the top-ranked Washington Capitals had just six, while Edmonton and Tampa Bay were on the losing side with five Europeans each.

Europeans in the NHL since 2000:

2000-2001: 277 Europeans out of 990 – 28.3 percent
CZE 70, RUS 69, SWE 47, FIN 34, SVK 29, UKR 7, GER 6, SUI 4, LAT 3, LTU 2, POL 2, NOR 2, KAZ 1, BLR 1.

2001-2002: 293 Europeans out of 968 – 30.3 percent
CZE 78, RUS 62, SWE 53, FIN 42, SVK 32, GER 6, LAT 6, UKR 4, POL 2, KAZ 2, LTU 2, SUI 1, NOR 1, AUT 1, BLR 1.

2002-2003: 293 Europeans out of 984 – 29.7 percent
CZE 80, RUS 65, SWE 58, FIN 38, SVK 30, GER 6, LAT 5, POL 2, KAZ 2, SUI 2, UKR 1, LTU 1, NOR 1, AUT 1, BLR 1.

2003-2004: 300 Europeans out of 1018 – 29.5 percent
CZE 76, RUS 64, SWE 53, FIN 37, SVK 35, GER 7, UKR 5, KAZ 4, LAT 4, SUI 4, AUT 3, BLR 2, LTU 2, NOR 2, POL 2.

2005-2006: 262 Europeans out of 961 – 27.26 percent
CZE 65, RUS 51, SWE 46, FIN 39, SVK 32, GER 8, SUI 4, BLR 3, AUT 3, LAT 3, POL 2, KAZ 2, FRA 1, NOR 1, UKR 1, LTU 1.

2006-2007: 259 Europeans out of 945 – 27.41 percent
CZE 65, SWE 50, RUS 44, FIN 42, SVK 26, GER 7, SUI 5, LAT 4,  BLR 3, AUT 2, NOR 2, UKR 2, DEN 2, FRA 1, KAZ 1, JPN 1, LTU 1, SLO 1.

2007-2008: 242 Europeans out of 941 – 25.72 percent
CZE 59, SWE 53, FIN 41, RUS 32, SVK 23, GER 9, SUI 6, BLR 4, LAT 3, AUT 2, UKR 2, NOR 2, DEN 2, KAZ 1, SLO 1, LTU 1, FRA 1.

2008-2009: 242 Europeans out of 974 – 24.90 percent
CZE 57, SWE 54, FIN 42, RUS 36, SVK 18, GER 8, SUI 6, BLR 4, DEN 4, LAT 4, AUT 3, UKR 2, FRA 1, KAZ 1, LTU 1, NOR 1, SLO 1. 

2009-2010: 228 Europeans out of 962 – 23.70 percent
SWE 54, CZE 48, FIN 38, RUS 34, SVK 17, GER 8, DEN 6, LAT 5, BLR 4, SUI 4, AUT 3, UKR 2, FRA 1, KAZ 1, LTU 1, NOR 1, SLO 1. 

ANDREW PODNIEKS