Zettersyuk: The Euro player stereotypes are dying

There was a time when Demolition ruled the World Wrestling Entertainment Tag Team Division and it was cool to watch. Right now, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are an unstoppable combo in the NHL playoffs. These 2 are sickeningly good. You can hit them and rough them up but they continue to thrive and excel. They create so much open space with their flexibility in their plays and even when they are being tightly checked they push through. This is killing the old Don Cherry (and my own) stereotype that if you bang around skilled European players that they'll shy away from the puck when an opposing player charges them. Such is the evolution (generally speaking) of European players adapting to North American-style hockey.
You can't write off a team with a lot of European players on it to make the Finals anymore. Not this year anyway. And already, the "template" for building a successful NHL team full of bigger and faster Canadian players (like the Ducks of last year) has faded.
Adaptation.
More obstruction calls helps. It lets the smaller skilled guys play their style.
If Johan Franzen was in the Wings' lineup there would be (not including goalies):
-6 Swedes
-6 Canadians
-3 Americans
-1 Russian
-1 Czech
-1 Fin

9 Europeans! And a Swedish captain to boot. Is this the year that Lidstrom squashes the whole "a European captain has never won a Cup" statement?

By contrast, here are the Penguins nationality totals (minus goalies):
-8 Canadians
-5 Americans
-1 Slovak
-2 Russians
-1 Czech
-1 Fin

5 Europeans! A Canadian captain! I guess the Penguins are heavily favored to win the Cup then, right? Don't bank on it.

I guess I'm counting on the Flyers NOT coming back in their series against Pittsburgh. But just for the hell of it, the Flyers' nationality counts as follows:
-11 Canadians
-3 Americans
-2 Fins
-2 Czechs

(Keep in mind that the totals for each team are based on their CURRENT rosters)

Wow. Look at all those Canucks on the Flyers. And only 4 Europeans! A Canadian captain! Shit, these guys should be in the Finals already!

It just goes to show that my stereotypical attitude was wrong. Sure, I love it when Canadians succeed in hordes, but this year is kind of stretching my attitude and perspective.
Europeans are generally getting stronger and keeping pace with our style of hockey nowadays and I need to get my hockey-superiority head out of my ass. It's just hard to sometimes when you cheer for a team that has/had 3 gutless Swedes on it (Naslund and the Twins). There are great European players out there outside of my little box.

-The top 3 scorers in the playoffs are European (Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Malkin.)

-The Top 2 goal-scorers in the playoffs are European (Franzen and Zetterberg). That includes 6 out of the Top 10.

T Tags: Zetterberg Datsyuk domination Red+Wings Penguins Flyers European+Players

European Leadership

We Canadians are fueled by icons like Don Cherry, who says that Canadian hockey players are the best and have the most heart. But now especially we are seeing more widespread hunger and desire from European players to win the Stanley Cup. I never used to give teams with a European captain a chance in the playoffs until now.
The emergence of Daniel Alfredsson is bringing to the forefront a European's ability to lead a team to the Holy Grail.
But let's face it, the whole concept of Canadian greatness in team leadership, and especially wearing the "C", to a large degree is tainted to begin with. Gloating that only one non-Canadian captain in NHL history has raised the Cup is pointless(Derian Hatcher with the Stars in 1999).
It comes down to percentages. There has always been a larger amount of Canadian players in the NHL. The Canadian content in the NHL was massively abundant pre-1990, and that number has significantly decreased since then. Especially now, you can see the playing field slowly levelling out when it comes to team captaincy.

Here is a breakdown of captaincy and nationality from this season:

Canadians: 14 (Mellanby, Crosby, Lecavalier, Brind'amour, Niedermayer, Marleau, Morrow, Iginla, Drake, Foote, Smith, Aucoin, Doan, Sakic)
Swedes: 5 (Naslund, Sundin, Alfredsson, Lidstrom, Norstrom)
Americans: 3 (Clark, Drury, Rolston)
Finnish: 3 (Koivu, Jokinen, Timmonen)
Czechs: 1 (Elias)
Russians: 1 (Yashin)
Slovaks: 1. (Chara)
3 teams had no captain, correct me if I'm wrong.

That is the most spread out it has ever been.

We still hold the monopoly when it comes to the odds of one of our own meeting Gary Bettman at center ice to accept the Cup based on the above numbers. But that monopoly is fading. Had the Wings beaten the Ducks the theory would have taken a huge hit, with 2 Swedish captains in the Final. It's just a matter of time. Hell, Alfredsson is the first European captain to make an appearance in the Finals in NHL history. He is leading the race for the Conn Smythe trophy right now. A European! A Swede even! Heaven forbid! Times are changing.

Like Jibblescribbits had discussed a couple of weeks back, it takes European players a while to adjust to the North American style of play. Whenever they do, they are terrific all-round players. Look at Alfredsson, Lidstrom and Elias now. They have been around for a lot of years and are great leaders.
As well, if the current obstruction rules remain and the game is built more on speed and skill, there will be a lot more Europeans coming front and center and into the spotlight.

Canadian players are not always the best. There's just been a lot more of us playing in the NHL and for a lot longer period of time.
What I am trying to say is that it's one thing to be a proud Canadian, and to be proud of what Canadian hockey players have accomplished, but it's another thing to have your head buried in the sand.

T Tags: Canadians Euopeans Leaders NHL