Hockey's second-tier nations making strides
Is the hockey world shrinking or growing? Depends on your
perspective.
From an elite angle, it may indeed be getting smaller. At any
given major international tournament these days, the list of true
contenders has dwindled to four or five — Canada, Russia,
Sweden, the United States and sometimes Finland. Those nations also
dominate the first couple of rounds of the entry draft, with the
Czechs and Slovaks stubbing their toes in terms of prospect
development. Senior writer Ken Campbell analyzes this phenomenon in
an upcoming issue of
THN.
At the same time, there are several indicators that point to
world growth.
Start with the Kontinental League, the first league since the
World Hockey Association that has poached big-time players from the
NHL. A scan of this year's Olympic rosters shows 60 players (about
22 percent of the total pool) skate in the Russian league.
Then there are the high-level players who won't be in
Vancouver solely because their national teams didn't qualify. That
list includes NHL key cogs such as Anze Kopitar (Slovenia), Thomas
Vanek (Austria), Cristobal Huet (France); and other regulars such
as Nik Antropov (Kazakhstan), Ruslan Fedotenko and Alexei
Ponikarovsky (Ukraine); Dainius Zubrus (Lithuania); and Danes
Jannik Hansen, Peter Regin and Frans Nielsen.
At the same time, the nations that are represented at the
Games will do so almost exclusively with homegrown talent. There
was a time, not too long ago, when Canadian-born-and-trained
skaters dotted the rosters of Italy, Germany, France, Austria and
Switzerland. That trend has greatly diminished. The only true-blue
Canucks we could find who fit that profile in 2010 are Hnat
Domenichelli (Switzerland) and Jason Holland, Chris Schmidt and
John Tripp (Germany).
Conclusion? The Big 7 may have lost a couple of long-standing
members, but the second tier of hockey nations is expanding and
developing more and more capable players.
ROSTER WATCH
Some facts and trivia about the recently announced Olympic
squads:
