Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Canadian born players continue to find success in NCAA hockey
Jonathan Toews, Joe Nieuwendyk, Dave Poulin, Davis Payne, and Jaden Schwartz, all hockey players at different points in their careers who share at least two things in common – NCAA Men’s ice hockey and the Canadian Flag. For years Division I men’s ice hockey has been flooded with talent from all over North America and as evidenced from the names listed above, Canadian born players that have worn the jersey’s of Division I college hockey programs continue to have an immense impact at the college and pro level whether it be as players, coaches or general managers.
Joe Nieuwendyk, of Oshawa, Ontario, and current GM for the Dallas Stars, enjoyed a 20 year NHL career after refining his game at Cornell University, ” When I went to Cornell, my whole team was from Canada except for one guy.” Not much has changed at Cornell under coach Mike Schafer, a Canadian himself, who has built a perennial national contender with a roster that is more than 60% Canadian players.
The 2010-11 college hockey season is roughly 6 weeks old and Wilcox, Saskatchewan native Jaden Schwartz has burst onto the scene as the nation’s most prolific freshman scorer. As an 18 year old, Schwartz is routinely matched up against opponent’s top lines and thus far they have been unsuccessful in keeping him of the score sheet. The 2010 1stround pick of the St. Louis Blues has racked up 18 points through 12 games and is the early favorite for rookie of the year. Perhaps his success should come as no surprise since he is the player that scored 39 goals and 72 assists in 44 games for the Notre Dame Hounds, breaking the record previously held by Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards.
The impact of the Canadian born player on men’s college hockey will continue to be felt for years to come. Roughly 30% of the players wearing Division I jerseys carry a passport from Canada and in fact outside of Minnesota, Ontario produces more college hockey players than anywhere in the world. As is evidenced from the chart below, college coaches welcome Canadian born players with open arms.
Number of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players by province:
Ontario – 185
Alberta – 108
British Columbia – 86
Quebec – 46
Manitoba – 28
Saskatchewan – 25
New Brunswick – 4
Nova Scotia – 3
YT – 2
Newfoundland – 1