NHL Players Nationality Breakdown

NHL Players Nationality Breakdown

by | May 23, 2019 | Article

Where do NHL players come from?

Well, the NHL is based in North America, so it would be safe to assume that the players either come from Canada or the United States. But what about names like Radek Faksa (center for the Dallas Stars) or Alexander Ovechkin (left wing/captain of the Washington Capitals)? Those two names don’t quite sound North American. And that’s because they aren’t; Faksa was born in Opava in the Czech Republic and Ovechkin was born in Moscow, Russia.

Although NHL games take place in North America, entry into the league is open to any country worldwide. You need to be a highly skilled hockey player, of course, but if you happen to be a highly skilled player from Zimbabwe, you can play in the NHL if you really want.

So, then, what percent of players in the NHL today are actually from North America? How many are from other countries like Latvia and France? How has the nationality spread of NHL players changed over time?

In the Past

It’s strongly believed that hockey originated in Nova Scotia, Canada. It makes sense, then, that throughout history, Canada has consistently led the NHL in terms of the number of players hailing from the country. In fact, the United States (or any other countries) barely had any players in the NHL until the 70s!

1920-21

A few years after the formation of the NHL in 1917, 44 (91.7%) of its players were Canadian. The rest of the league consisted of 3 U.S. players and 1 lone U.K. player by the name of George Carey who played for the Hamilton Tigers.

1951-52

Almost thirty years later, Canada was still dominating the NHL—-even more so, in fact. In the 1951-52 season, 143 (93.5%) of all NHL players were Canadian. The rest of the NHL roster consisted of 5 U.K. players, 3 U.S. players, and 1 player each from Ireland and Finland.

1987-88

More recently, the popularity and appeal of the NHL branched out to other countries around the world. The 1987-88 season saw the concentration of Canadian players decrease, as more U.S. players continued to join the league. In addition, more countries in general were represented in the NHL.

Canada boasted 566 (76.9%) of NHL players, with 115 (15.6%) coming from the U.S. Both Sweden and Finland had over 10 players in the NHL, and countries like Germany, Austria, Italy, and Slovakia all had NHL representation.

The 2018-19 Season

Now, let’s look at where the numbers lie today. What’s the nationality breakdown for NHL players in the 2018-19 season?

As you might expect, the NHL has diversified immensely in the last 100 years since its formation. Canada still leads with the most players by country, but the U.S. isn’t far behind, and there are now 17 active countries with players in the NHL.

Canada

For the 2018-19 season, 419 (43.8%) of all NHL players are Canadian. This is currently the lowest percentage of Canadian players in NHL history, which is glaring proof of the diversification of the NHL.

Of the 419 active NHL players from Canada, 35 of them are goalies. A few of the most noteworthy Canadian NHLers are Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Jason Spezza (Dallas Stars), and Dion Phaneuf (Los Angeles Kings). The St. Louis Blues currently have the most Canadian players (18) on their roster.

The United States

United States citizens constitute 28.1% of the NHL’s total roster. That’s 269 hockey players, with 26 of them being goalies. Some of the most notable active U.S.-born players are Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins), Zach Parise (Minnesota Wild), and Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets).

Sweden

From here on, Europe takes the reins for providing the NHL with its players. Sweden clocks in with the third-most active NHL players, at 91 (9.5%). Of the 91 players, 6 of them are goaltenders. The Detroit Red Wings and the Vancouver Canucks each have 4 Swedish Players on their rosters.

Some of the most well-known Swedish NHL players are Erik Karlsson (San Jose Sharks), Nicklas Backstrom (Washington Capitals), Loui Eriksson (Vancouver Canucks), and Niklas Kronwall (Detroit Red Wings).

Finland

Finland is the country that provides the NHL with the fourth-most players, at 49 (5.1%). Of the 49 players, 8 of them are goaltenders. Arguably, the best known active Finnish players in the NHL are Mikko Koivu (Minnesota Wild), Valtteri Filppula (Philadelphia Flyers), and Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers).

Fourth place is nothing to scoff at; it’s a very strong Finnish.

Czech Republic

After Finland is the Czech Republic, which provides the NHL with 40 players (4.2% of all players). Of those 40 active players, some of the most notable ones are Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia Flyers), David Krejci (Boston Bruins), and Martin Hanzal (Dallas Stars). The Czech Republic also provides the NHL with 4.5% of its goalies, with 4 out of the 40 Czech players being goaltenders.

Russia

Close behind the Czech Republic is Russia, which contributes 38 players to the NHL (4% of all players). Although Russia is a big hockey-playing country with a sizeable population, most players tend to stay within the country to play the sport. Some of the most popular active Russian players in the NHL are Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues), and Ilya Kovalchuk (Los Angeles Kings).

The Rest of the World

Apart from the six countries already mentioned, there are eleven more countries that are represented in the NHL.

The 7th and 8th most represented countries are Switzerland and Denmark, with 13 and 11 NHL players, respectively. The NHL also has players from Denmark, Germany, Austria, France, Norway, and Latvia, each with 2-7 players in the league. Finally, three countries have one single player in the NHL.

Slovenia is represented by Anze Kopitar, a center for the Los Angeles Kings. The Netherlands has Daniel Sprong, a right wing for the Anaheim Ducks, and Australia has Nathan Walker, a centre for the Washington Capitals.

If the patterns of nationality in the NHL are any indication, the league will continue to diversify in the future. More and more countries will get representation in the NHL, and perhaps one year soon, Canada will lose its 1st place spot on the list of largest player contributors.

𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝, 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 & 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨!

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Mental Health and Hockey

Mental Health and Hockey

by | May 8, 2019 | Article

A mental disorder is an affliction recognized in behavioural or mental patterns which may cause stress or impair personal functioning. Mental disorders are often persistent, and many produce no visible signs to others. Some examples of mental health disorders are:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder, described by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) as “persistent and excessive worry about a number of different things”
  • Panic Disorder, characterized by the ADAA as spontaneous panic attacks and subsequent constant fear of an upcoming attack
  • Social Anxiety Disorder, defined by the ADAA as intense anxiety or fear of being judged, negatively evaluated, or rejected in a social or performance situation

Sound awful? That’s because they are. Living with a mental health disorder can be a nightmare. Worse yet, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness each year.

So, then, consider your favorite NHL team. With twenty players to a team, that means an average of four of them suffer from some sort of mental illness. No sport is immune from the ill-effects of mental disorders, and athletes, although viewed by society as physically and mentally strong, aren’t immune either.

History of Mental Health Issues in Hockey

Apart from every other factor in one’s life which may contribute to a mental disorder, the sport of hockey puts a few additional stresses on its athletes:

First, almost every sport – but especially hockey – is a hyper-masculine environment. Even with modern steps toward gender equality, hockey is still a male-dominated sport. Any male hockey player, regardless of age, who has a difficult time conforming to said hyper-masculine environment could suffer devastating mental consequences in the future. This is especially true for hockey in the past, when mental disorders weren’t understood and were socially shunned.

Second, pressure from peers, coaches, and parents to perform well can lead to the development of a wide variety of anxiety disorders. This becomes truer the more pressure is exerted on the player and the more they dislike the sport yet feel that they need to keep playing it to meet the expectations of others.

Finally, athletes are generally viewed by society as adaptable, determined, and strong. These aren’t qualities commonly associated with someone who has anxiety, mood, psychotic, or eating disorders. They absolutely should be associated with someone who has mental disorders, and society is moving toward that level of acceptance, but we still have a long way to go.

These stresses have plagued hockey players ever since the intention of the sport, but only in the last few years have players become more comfortable openly talking about their mental health issues.

Before the 1950’s, mental health disorders largely weren’t recognized as proper afflictions. People with anxiety were told to “calm down” and people with depression were told to “lighten up,” as if those few, meaningless words would do anything to improve their situation. Since then, the focus on psychological health care gradually grew. More psychiatric institutions opened, and more doctors recognized mental health disorders as true medical issues.

It took society a bit longer to warm up to the idea of “mental health,” however. Only since the turn of the last century have people become truly comfortable accepting mental health disorders as a real thing. Even today, many people still aren’t comfortable recognizing and discussing mental health issues, especially in a sport like hockey. The problem is, they need to be comfortable discussing mental health. Staying silent literally costs lives.

In 2011, three former NHL players passed away as a result of mental illness. Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard, and Rick Rypien all unfortunately took their own lives due to some unresolved form of mental illness within four months of one another. More recently, former NHLer Todd Ewen took his own life as well in 2015.

Yes, the formerly mentioned players are all from the NHL; top-level players. However, some of the very same issues involved in their mental health disorders growing out of control apply to all hockey players. Minor hockey players, no matter what age, are exposed to the same problems as NHL players. With mental health being such a large potential problem in hockey, we must answer the call to action.

Steps Toward Positive Progress

In truth, the situation of mental health awareness in hockey is not so bleak. Along with society becoming more concerned with and aware of mental health, the sport of hockey and its players have taken many steps towards positive progress.

Kevin Bieksa, who was best friends with the late Rick Rypien, founded Foundrybc.ca, a website tailored to youth who face mental health issues. The website also tells Rypien’s story to help assure its visitors that seeking help for mental health issues is perfectly okay.

Shortly after, the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) launched the Hockey Talks initiative. Each Canadian hockey team selects a home game in February to use as a platform for spreading awareness about mental illness. The goal is to get people informed and talking about the numerous mental health disorders that affect people all over the world.

Even books like All the way (2014) by Jordin Tootoo and Boy on Ice (2014), the biography of the late Derek Boogaard, help raise awareness of mental health issues in hockey.

Here are some tips from Psychology Today about how you can do your best to help someone with mental illness:

  1. Inform yourself as much as possible about the illness being faced
  2. Talk about mental heath, don’t debate about it
  3. If someone is experiencing acute psychiatric distress (experiencing psychosis or feeling suicidal, for example), getting them to the hospital is the best choice
  4. Ask the person struggling with the mental disorder what will best help them

If only one lesson can be taken away from this article, it should be that mental health in hockey must be taken very seriously. Parents, teammates, and coaches should all be aware and understanding of mental health disorders and their potential issues. And, above all, everybody involved must realize that it’s normal and beneficial to discuss their issues with anyone they think can help.

Mental health disorders are very real and can have devastating consequences if left to fester. It’s our job as patrons and teachers of hockey to look out for those suffering from poor mental health and to help in whatever way we can. That way, we can keep a strong, happy hockey community focused on enjoying the game.

𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝, 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 & 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨!

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The Evolution of the Curved Hockey Stick

The Evolution of the Curved Hockey Stick

by | Apr 29, 2019 | Article

Hockey has been around for almost two centuries now, providing a source of exercise and unmatched fun for all its participants. It’s played by children and adults alike, and the NHL is literally a billion-dollar industry, televising hockey games featuring the best players in the world for anyone to watch.

It makes sense then, that for as long as the sport of hockey has existed, so has the hockey stick. You just can’t play hockey without your trusty stick.

Over the last 200 years, hockey sticks have gone through many improvements to be able to reach the current lightweight, modern style. They’ve been made lighter, stronger, and more flexible. Plus – believe it or not – the blade wasn’t always curved. In fact, until the 1960’s the blades of hockey sticks used to be flat and straight.

Even more unbelievably, the modern curved-blade design we know and love was created by accident! Here’s the story:

Prior to the Curve

It’s widely believed that the first ever hockey sticks were made in the late 1700’s by the Mi’kmaqs.

I’m sorry- the what?

The Mi’kmaqs (pronounced mick-macks) are a group of First Nations people indigenous to the eastern part of Canada. One of the things they did for fun was play a ball-and-stick game called tooadijik with long, curved sticks that they carved out of hornbeam trees.

Then, they got the idea to make the game a bit more challenging by using ice as a playing surface instead of just grass. That way, they could still play their game in the wintertime. They began producing more and more sticks as hockey gained popularity within the Mi’kmaq group and beyond.

By the mid-1800’s, the Starr Manufacturing Company was selling and distributing the Mi’kmaq-made hockey sticks. Once hockey really started picking up speed in the early 1900s, sticks were being mass-produced for the hoard of eager players that wanted to join in on the fun.

Between the 1920’s and the 1940’s, stick manufacturing companies tossed away their single-piece designs, opting for hockey stick designs that used two or three separate pieces of wood. Starting in the 1950’s manufacturers used fibreglass to reinforce the blades and shafts of the wooden sticks to make them more durable.

There, now you’re all caught up to the important part: the invention of the curved blade!

Some of the Best Discoveries Are Entirely Unplanned

Stan Mikita played for the Chicago Blackhawks from 1958 to 1980. Mikita had an illustrious career, winning the Lady Byng Memorial trophy and contributing to the Blackhawks’ success. His largest contribution to hockey, however, came during a practice in 1962.

Right as Mikita was about to head onto the ice, the blade of his stick got caught in the bench door and bent into a “v” shape. Not wanting to take the extra time to change his stick, Mikita figured he would still use it with the bent blade.

The result was the exact opposite of what Mikita expected: the bent blade improved his hockey shot!

But how? He was using a broken stick!

Broken, yes, but broken in a good way. The bent blade allowed Mikita to have better puck control when he slid his stick across the ice to take a shot. With a straight blade, unless you move your stick perfectly forward, the puck will likely move either to the left or right of its original position on the blade. This reduces the accuracy of a shot and limits the amount of power you can use when shooting the puck.

The bent blade, however, creates a cradle for the puck, ensuring that it won’t move along your blade as you shoot it. This allows you to focus more on power and good stick movement when taking a shot, rather than having to worry about accuracy so much.

Mikita’s blade bending was the perfect example of a happy accident – he didn’t know it at the time, but he would forever change the game of hockey.

Modern Hockey Sticks

After Mikita’s bent-blade accident, hockey sticks only went through two more major changes before reaching their current design.

First, around the late 1980’s, manufacturing companies started producing hockey sticks with aluminum shafts – the first time ever that the entire stick wasn’t made of wood. The aluminum shaft made the stick lighter, easier to handle, and even more durable.

Second, manufacturers have become something of “mad scientists” in recent years. Stick designs evolved from using aluminum to more composite material. A composite material is made from a bunch of different materials that, when combined, have desirable properties that none of the ingredient materials can achieve on their own.

If the individual metals they were trying to use weren’t durable, cheap, or light enough, then they combined metals until they found a material that satisfied all three. Many modern hockey sticks are made with any combination of:

  • Wood
  • Fiberglass
  • Carbon
  • Kevlar
  • Aluminum
  • Graphite

And there you have it! The evolution of the curved hockey stick.

Of course, all pieces of hockey equipment have gone through many changes over the years, not just hockey sticks. The changes are a good thing, though. Equipment continues to become more comfortable, easier to use, and more effective for hockey players. In the end it just makes for more competitive hockey games!

𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝, 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 & 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨!

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Meet NHL Shooting & Scoring Coach Tim Turk

Meet NHL Shooting & Scoring Coach Tim Turk

by | Apr 19, 2019 | Article

NHL Shooting Coach Tim Turk was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. Tim found his start in hockey by playing shinny on the Mississauga streets with his friends almost every day. Although Tim had a relatively late start in organized hockey at the age 12, but his interest and passion continued from there.

During his first hockey season, Tim played at the single A level. The very next year, he had risen to playing triple A. At the young age of 14, Tim accomplished a rare feat for minor hockey players: he was recruited by a Junior B team a few years ahead of the usual age. That was the moment that Tim realized he was meant to do something more in the sport of hockey.

While Tim was attending high school, he worked as a shooter for a goalie school in his spare time. After watching Tim display shooting talent, the owner of the goalie school suggested that Tim teach his shooting technique to other hockey players. At the time, there were very few shooting schools, so Tim wrote off the idea and continued as a shooter for the time being, while keeping the idea to branch out and teach his own, in the back of his mind.

At the age of 20, Tim got his first hockey coaching experience when he helped lead a peewee A team with a friend. For Tim, the experience was a breath of fresh air, because he revealed a hidden talent for teaching. After a few more years of successful coaching, Tim decided to take the idea of teaching shooting on his own and run with it.

Tim quickly gained notoriety as an expert shooting coach and, in 1999, found an opportunity to work with his first NHL-level team, the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, Tim has continued to teach shooting and scoring to other NHL teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Arizona Coyotes.

With the acclamation of having worked as an NHL shooting and scoring coach, Tim has since taught shooting all over the world, including China, Malaysia, Russia, Switzerland, and many other distant countries. Tim also offers an affiliation program for hockey schools and instructors who would like to offer the Tim Turk Hockey Program. Tim currently has affiliates located in Chicago, Ottawa East and West, Switzerland, Oakville, and Pennsylvania.

Today, Tim continues to run local, national, and international training sessions and hockey camps to teach the art of shooting. He works with players and teams of all levels; from minor hockey to NHL. Tim also founded www.HockeySkillsTraining.com where he offers online hockey shooting video training for players everywhere. 

𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝, 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 & 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨!

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Meet Pro Stick Handling Coach Matt Korthuis

Meet Pro Stick Handling Coach Matt Korthuis

by | Apr 10, 2019 | Article

Matt Korthuis was born in 1981 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He grew up playing hockey in Saskatchewan and kickstarted his hockey career with two fantastic seasons in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) playing for the Estevan Bruins from 2000-2002.

After giving outstanding performances in Saskatchewan, Matt moved to his homeland, the Netherlands, and began playing hockey in the nation’s own league. Little did Matt Korthuis know at the time, he was about to begin a legendary European hockey career. Matt played the 2002-2003 season for a team called the “Nijmegen Tigers.” He spent the next two seasons playing for the Heerenveen Flyers of the same league and played his fourth season for the Amstel Tijgers. In all four of his first seasons, Matt was a force to be reckoned with on the ice.

In 2007, Matt joined a team in the Netherlands league called “HYS The Hague.” In the five seasons he played with HYS The Hague, Matt was even more successful than in his first four years playing hockey in Europe.

Matt’s outstanding playing career came with many achievements, of course. Matt was the 2007 Dutch Cup winner with the Amstel Tijgers. He was also the 2009 Dutch champion, and the 2011 Dutch champion and North Sea Cup champion with HYS The Hague. In 2012, Matt’s last year with the team, HYS The Hague took home both the Dutch Cup and the North Sea Cup. Matt also had the opportunity, three years in a row from 2007-2009, to represent the Netherlands in the hockey World Championships Division I.

In 2012, as a last hurrah for a wildly successful playing career, Matt moved to Australia to play for the Melbourne Ice in the Australian Ice Hockey league (AIHL). With Matt’s help, the Melbourne Ice won the Goodall Cup in the Australian Championship that year.

Since retiring as a player, Matt has been a professional skills and development coach based out of his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Matt is also a scout for the Prince George Cougars, a Canadian major junior hockey team based in Prince George, B.C.

In 2017, Matt joined HockeySkillsTraining.com, where he shares his stick handling expertise in his online training videos to players everywhere.

NHL Teams That Have Come and Gone

NHL Teams That Have Come and Gone

by | Apr 8, 2019 | Article

The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded over 100 years ago, in 1917, in Montreal, Canada. Since then it’s been a premier source of entertainment for hockey fans not only in North America, but worldwide. Just in the last thirty years, the NHL has undergone one strike and three lockouts, but it’s always stuck around to deliver thirsty hockey fans the sweet juice that is top-notch hockey action.

There are currently thirty-one teams in the NHL, with twenty-four based in the United States and seven based in Canada. The NHL is well-known for a period beginning in 1942 where there were only six teams: the Boston Bruins, the Detroit Red Wings, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Montreal Canadiens, collectively known as the “Original Six.” Thereafter, teams gradually joined the league to bring the total to the current thirty-one.

Along the way, however, there were plenty of hockey teams that came and went; teams that joined the NHL only to disband and leave the league sometime later. Who exactly were these teams that joined and then dropped out of the NHL and why did they have to leave?

Here are some of the most well-known NHL teams that have come and gone:

Montreal Wanderers (1917-1918)

The Montreal Wanderers was a team that was founded in 1903 and began playing in the NHL right when it was formed in 1917.

Despite their fourteen-year history prior to the NHL and being one of the founding teams, the Wanderers didn’t last long in the league. In fact, they lasted exactly four games in the NHL before they stopped playing.

Four games into their first NHL season, the Wanderers’ home rink, the Montreal Arena, burned down in a fire that was started in the arena’s ice-making plant. The team was already on thin ice, having lost two of their star players and lacking a decent roster of players because of World War I efforts. The team ultimately decided to disband because of their poor roster and the loss of their arena.

Ottawa Senators (1917-1934) and St. Louis Eagles (1934-1935)

Yes, the Ottawa Senators hockey team that’s a part of the NHL today is a different team than the one that helped found the NHL.

The (original) Senators was formed in 1883, and both before and after the team started playing in the NHL, they experienced a lot of success. They won numerous titles for pre-NHL leagues and won four Stanley Cups while they were a part of the NHL

Despite the success of the team, however, the Ottawa market for hockey was too small. The Senators began encountering serious financial problems in 1927, and by 1934, the burden had become too great for the team to be able to continue in the NHL. Because of the difficulties, the team relocated to St. Louis, Missouri to become the St. Louis Eagles so the players could continue to participate in the NHL. But, alike the Montreal Wanderers, the St. Louis Eagles didn’t last long.

When the Eagles were inducted into the NHL, they retained their position as part of the Canadian division, even though they were based in Missouri. That division placement required the team to frequently travel to Canada, which was a massive expense for the ownership. After only one year (it was an abysmal year, too; they went 11-31-6), the St. Louis Eagles disbanded and dropped out of the league.

New York (Brooklyn) Americans (1925-1942)

The New York Americans are one of the best-known discontinued teams in NHL history.

The Americans were founded in 1925 and joined the NHL the same year. Right from the start of their career, the Americans had trouble finding success in their hockey games. In their first ten seasons, they were only able to make the playoffs once. In their entire history, they never won a Stanley cup, and posted a disappointing record of 255-402-127 over seventeen seasons.

At the time the New York Americans were operating, the Great Depression (a period of worldwide economic depression) was taking its toll. The team had a lifetime of financial difficulties, and in 1942, with World War II limiting the roster of available players, the New York Americans officially disbanded and withdrew from the NHL.

The withdrawal of the New York Americans would go down in history, however, as the final move which kickstarted the well-known “Original Six” era. From 1942-1967, the NHL operated with the same six teams; no more, no less. At the end of that twenty-five-year period, more teams (including the one I’m about to mention) joined the NHL in what was known as the “Expansion Era.”

Quebec Nordiques (1979-1995) 

Formed in 1972, the Quebec Nordiques played seven seasons in a league called the “World Hockey Association (WHA)” before joining the NHL in 1979. Starting right off in 1980, the Nordiques made the playoffs seven years in a row, although they never managed to take home the Cup in their history.

For a while in the 80s, the Nordiques held an intense rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams competed intensely with each other to see which would be considered the better Quebec-based team. In 1987, however, the answer became clear.

In the 1987-88 season, the Nordiques finished last in their division, ending their playoff streak. In the next two years, the team posted back-to-back worst league records, the second one a dreadful 12-61-7.

In the 1992-93 season, with the recently acquired Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan, the Nordiques posted an incredible result, doubling their point total of 52 from the previous season to 104. Even with the rapid improvement and increased fan support in the last few years of the team’s NHL stint, the Nordiques fell prey to Quebec’s small and insufficient market for hockey.

In 1995, the Nordiques were forced to move their franchise to Denver, Colorado, where they were renamed the Colorado Avalanche; a team which still plays in the NHL today.

The five teams mentioned weren’t the only ones that joined and then withdrew from the NHL. In fact, a total of nineteen teams played in the NHL for some time before leaving the league. More recently, you may remember the swap when the Winnipeg Jets relocated to Arizona to become the Coyotes in 1996. Fifteen years later, in 2011, the Jets franchise was re-established through the purchase of the former Atlanta Thrashers.

With the unstable state of some NHL teams, it was no doubt difficult for the fans of the cities who lost teams throughout history. They found themselves, suddenly, with nobody to cheer for or, at least, nobody to cheer for as hard as their former home team. I like to think, however, that a hockey fan is a hockey fan, regardless of having a home team to cheer for or not.

The good news? The franchises of all the current NHL teams are more stable than ever before, so it’s unlikely that any of the current teams will fade away anytime soon. And even if they do, the NHL boasts millions of fans. Hockey will always exist in some form or another because the fans of a team or a sport determine whether a legend dies—-and the legends of all the NHL teams that have come and gone will never die.