22nd February 2010, 1:52 AM
Weltall Wrote:How many Americans actually play in the NHL?
Lots, 22.2% of NHL players are American, and only Canada has more players (52.3%). Plus 24 of the teams, including 4 of the Original 6 = plenty of Americanization of hockey.
I guess Team USA has players on it from several different states, not just Michigan and Minnesota as per usual, including Orpik from California, which some credit to expansion to non-traditional hockey markets. So that's definitely a start. I understand that hockey will never surpass baseball or football in popularity in America, but I'd at least like to see it do better than basketball, that awful sport. Someday maybe.