Where NHLers come from: The Canadian Prairies
by James Mirtle on Dec 4, 2008 12:33 PM CST
19 comments
For those tired of the Avery talk, back to what I was talking about previously:
Saskatchewan and Manitoba were, at one point, big players in producing NHLers, especially around the Second World War period. Gordie Howe, from Floral, Sask., came in in 1947, joining others from his province such as Elmer Lach, Bert Olmstead, Max and Doug Bentley, and Harry Watson. Manitobans of that period were players like Terry Sawchuk, Turk Broda, Bill Mosienko, Cal Gardner, Tom Johnson and Jimmy Thomson.
Farm boys were in vogue those days, especially with teams expanding their searches for new talent, but post Original Six, Saskatchewan and Manitoban representation in the NHL has been falling to the point that both provinces now provide players who play in less than 5 per cent of NHL games.
Albertans, on the other hand, boomed with the Oilers and Flames coming into the league in 1979 and 1980. Mark Messier headlines the list of players from this period, joined by Dave Babych, Randy Gregg, Murray Craven and the Sutters, and followed by Brian Skrudland, Glen Wesley, Trevor Linden, Darryl Sydor, Stu Barnes and Ray Whitney.
This season, Albertans make up 9 per cent of the entire league, led by Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Mike Green, Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Sheldon Souray, Darcy Tucker and Ryan Smyth.
Some of the reason for the change can be described simply by population. Saskatchewan and Manitoba's numbers have levelled off in recent decades as Alberta has grown incredibly, essentially doubling in size in the past 30 years. The province has approximately 600 more NHLers than much-larger Quebec at this point and more than any one country other than the U.S.
I've left B.C. out of the mix for now given how unique my home province actually is in this regard. Stay tuned for that graph.
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If only the Blues had moved to Saskatoon in 1983… :)
Lighthouse Hockey: a New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
by Dominik on Dec 4, 2008 1:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I still chuckle when I walk by the case at SaskPlace housing the “history” of that attempted move.
by ShaneG on Dec 4, 2008 2:52 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
That rejection is proof positive that the NHL hated Canada long before Bettman came around! :)
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 3:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
It simply looks like with every expansion, Saskatchewan and Manitoba players lost ground. There’s only about a million Saskatchewan residents, and that population has stayed fairly stagnant since the 1960s, and in fact went down slightly for a fairly long period of time until just recently.
But it’s easy to see why a small population base could produce so many good hockey players, well above the average… they all could get ice time since the amount of rinks. Villages of 100-150 people frequently have their own natural ice skating rink. Small towns of 1500-5000 people usually have artificial ice rinks. Not to mention all the frozen ponds on farms throughout the prairies.
As the populations get more urbanized, the smaller percentage of players make it. Saskatoon really doesn’t produce a lot of NHL players when compared to the small towns. Rink time is incredibly difficult to obtain, and much more expensive. I played on the same rink that Lyle Odelien did, and you could go any day of the week for a free skate.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 1:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
There’s no question that’s an issue, and I think we’ll see hardly any players from Toronto because of it. It’d be much, much harder to emerge as a top hockey talent here than, say, Kamloops.
by James Mirtle on Dec 4, 2008 1:20 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Artificial Rinks all around
In my little town of Ponteix (500-600), we had an ice plant since I believe the early 80’s. So did nearly every other little town nearby save for Aneroid (Patty Marleau FTW) and Cadillac. And we paid I think $30 for a yearly membership to go skate whenever the heck we wanted.
Of course it didn’t help me much in my NHL aspirations but more talented folks have had better luck ;)
I think Marleau playing on Aneroid’s crappy ice led to his deceptive speed. He skated in slush for his first dozen years so the ice in the NHL must feel frictionless.
by ShaneG on Dec 4, 2008 2:52 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I’m thinking of the towns around where I grew up moreso…. Quill Lake (Odelien’s hometown) is about 400 people, and most other towns around it had artificial rinks, but they were bigger (Watson, Wadena, Wynyard… anything that begins with W apparently). I think even Elfros had artificial now that I think about it. I also played in Buchanan (pop. 250-300) which had natural ice, and a rink in Rama (pop. 120) that still scraped the ice in the intermissions rather than flooded it. Rama also produced a cup of coffee NHLer in former Whalers/Flames/Ducks enforcer Barry Nieckar. He wasn’t known for his skating like Marleau, though.
But yeah, pay your annual rink fee and skate whenever it’s available, which is fairly often. Even had a few Gym classes that were rink days.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 3:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Is there an easy way to see a graph of where players come from based on the size of their city/town/village/hut?
It sounds like something that would be a lot of work to put together but maybe you have access to that sort of data.
by ShaneG on Dec 4, 2008 3:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Question: Is that little Manitoban uptick statistically relevant? And if so, why is there an uptick?
by TylerG on Dec 4, 2008 2:29 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Er, statistically significant, that is.
by TylerG on Dec 4, 2008 2:30 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Maintoba youth are no longer discouraged from playing hockey by how lousy the Jets were.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 2:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Ha, nice.
It could have been that giant portrait of the queen that scared them off. (Tell me that’s not still there … is it still there?)
Lighthouse Hockey: a New York Islanders blog with hip issues.
by Dominik on Dec 4, 2008 4:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Winnipeg Arena, sadly, no longer exists. No one seems to know what happened to the queen’s portriat.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 8:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
It’s the equivalent of about 5-6 full-time NHLers from Manitoba joining the past two years. Toews is one; I’m sure there are others.
by James Mirtle on Dec 4, 2008 5:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Penner and Barker are as well, but they’ve also lost Belfour recently, so obviously there’s more. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Arron Asham, but he’s been in the league for about 7 years now.
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Dec 4, 2008 8:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Zajac, Keith, Dawes. A few goons and pluggers, too.
by James Mirtle on Dec 4, 2008 8:54 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The early-1990s were a terrible time for player development in Manitoba. Not sure why. But the province went from having quite a few good players to point to (Grant Ledyard, James Patrick, Carey Wilson, Mike Ridley, Ken Wregget, Ron Hextall, Dean Evason, Ed Belfour, Ken Baumgartner, Mike Keane, Curtis Leschyshyn) to zero. The only Manitoban player born in the 1970s who’ll score 100 goals in the NHL is Pat Falloon; nobody from Winnipeg will reach it.
Historically, Winnipeg also produced a lot more players than the rural areas. This is no longer true – rural players born since 1970 have played over 5000 NHL games, while Winnipeg natives have played just 3000.
by Hawerchuk on Dec 4, 2008 6:09 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
manitoba born players
While you guys are bagging upon Manitoba born players, I’d like to point out that Jon Toews currently is tied for the league lead in shootout goals and is Chicago’s captain.
More Manitoba born players (3) are on the current Canadian WJC camp roster than are Quebec born players (2).
Chet Pickard was the first goalie drafted overall last draft, and Manitoba born players are starting to be increasingly selected in the WHL draft relative to the other provinces in the WHL.
Colin Wilson (the “American” player and son of former Canadian Olympian Carey Wilson) was born in the U.S. but played all of his minor hockey in Winnipeg and was drafted 7th overall last season.
Manitoba hockey is actually on the rise, but why let the facts get in the way of a good tarring, eh?
by Tiny on Dec 5, 2008 1:46 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
PS:
Tiny little Manitoba managed to put 3 players on the Canadian WJC camp roster while the entire province of Ontario (with 12 times the population of Manitoba only managed to put 12 players on the WJC camp roster.
Comparatively speaking, it would seem that Manitoba>>>>>> Ontario.
Cheers!
by Tiny on Dec 5, 2008 1:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
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