There is a great wiki page on this I found a little while ago while trolling for hockey info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHL_statistical_leaders_by_country

It’s - obviously - NHL statistical leaders by country. Heatley is considered german in it ahhh

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 11:40 AM ET

Heatley was born in Germany, although he’s Canadian by heritage.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/07/08 at 11:51 AM ET

Wings have a kid named Jonathon Ericsson who’s also 6’5” and he’s got Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, and Chelios to learn the game.

Just wanted to let Steven Stamkos listen up a little bit.

Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 08/07/08 at 12:12 PM ET

Heatley was born in Germany, although he’s Canadian by heritage.

Yeah, no I know, it’s just...well, you know, strange. Same with Robyn Regehr, obviously the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Brazil lol. And his brother is Indonesian I think. Their parents were missionaries.

Nationality, ethnicity, place of birth, heritage, etc… ‘It’s Tricky’ as Run DMC would say.

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 12:27 PM ET

Just wanted to let Steven Stamkos listen up a little bit.

Wait until he actually plays against Lidstrom.  He may not know exactly what it will be like yet because he hasn’t had the experience. 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 08/07/08 at 12:41 PM ET

I say Kolzig for Germany. For Canada, I even say Lemieux is worth a mention. He had a shorter career, but has been called the most talented player to ever play the game. Prior to coming out of retirement, he was the only player in NHL history to maintain a PPG over >2.0. 

Posted by penguinsfan on 08/07/08 at 12:42 PM ET

I guess a good litmus test would be if the Germans (or whoever) even want Heatley (or whoever) on their list. I mean how much does it mean to say that the most prolific german player of all time is heater? He has grown up canadian, and plays for team canada. If anything, it distracts from ‘authentic’ german players like hecht or sturm or whoever.

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 12:43 PM ET

@ Penguins fan:

Ahh, here is another strange case. Kolzig was born in South Africa, and I dont think ever lived in Germany. He grew up in Canada, but had german parents and is not a canadian citizen, so he was able to declare for germany for international play.

Another mix up comes when top Kazak (Sp?) players declare for Russia/Soviet, leaving the Kazak team’s talent depeted. Lesser russian/soviet players probably also declare for Kazak, since they have a better shot at making the team. I don’t have any concrete examples, it’s just something I heard of happening which seems to be plausible. 

My list (or, too much time on my hands)

Canada:
1. Howe
2. Gretzky
3. Richard
4. Yzerman
5. Orr
6. Lemieux

USA
1. Chelios
2. Modano
3. Lafontaine
4. Roenick
5. Housley

Sweden
1. Lidstrom
2. Forsberg
3. Sundin
4. Alfredsson
5. Holmstrom - can’t argue with cups

Finland
1. Kurri
2. Selanne
3. S. Koivu
4. Lehtinen
5. Kapanen

Russia/USSR (NHL)
1. Fedorov
2. Bure
3. Larionov
4. Mogilny
5. Gonchar

Czech
1. Jagr
2. Elias
3. Sykora
4. Holik
5. Nedved

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 01:02 PM ET

Czech
1. Jagr
2. Elias
3. Sykora
4. Holik
5. Nedved

Tell me you forgot Hasek and really don’t believe Elias, Sykora, Holik, and Nedved are/were better players…

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 08/07/08 at 01:49 PM ET

Surprised that Kovalchuk isn’t mentioned. Baring injury, he should have near 500 goals by the time he hits 30. The man can’t play a lick of defense but he sure can score goals. He’s got 254 and he’s only 25 years old.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 08/07/08 at 02:18 PM ET

@mudshark:

True!! Yeah, was really only considering skaters for some reason. Hasek would be #1, definately.  Brodeur or Roy or Sawchuk should be on the Canadian list somewhere too.

@UMFan:
Maybe one day Kovie and Ovie will be on the list, same with Crosby, but theyve got to put the time in.

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 02:43 PM ET

I agree with UMFan and would like to add that, liability that he is on defense, Kovalchuk’s actually noticeably less deficient than Ovechkin.

Mine

Canada:
1 Gretzky
2 Lemieux
3 Howe
4 Messier
5 Brodeur (the old footage of Orr is thoroughly underwhelming, even when compared to other old footage of other players from his time and before)

US:
1 LaFontaine
2 Mullen
3 Modano
4 Richter
5 Leetch (Housley is the possibly the worst defenseman in his own zone I’ve ever seen, which disqualifies him from my list)

Sweden:
1 Lidstrom
2 Salming
3 Sundin
3 Forsberg
5 Nilsson

Finland:
1. Selanne
2. Kurri
3. Tikkannen
4. Lehtenen
5. Ruutu

Russia:
1. Kovalev
2. Tretiak
3. Bure
3. Fetisov
3. Mikhailev
3. Larionov
3. Kharlamov(Russia’s a crapshoot anyway: lots of truly elite players, but none necessarily better than the others--with the exception of Kovalev, who is visibly better with a puck than possibly anyone from any country. He doesn’t, however, produce that way, so I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for leaving him off the list entirely)

Czech:
1. Jagr
1. Hasek
3. Nedved
4. Lang
5. uh, Ivan Hlinka? Maybe Petr Svoboda, maybe Straka.

Slovakia:
1. P Stastny
2. Hossa
3. Gaborik
4. Palffy
5. A Stastny

Belarus:
1. A Kostsitsyn
2. S Kostsitsyn
3. Koltsov

Slovenia:
1. Kopitar

Nigeria:
1. Roman Ndur, the only man I’ve seen butchered in a fight against Matthew Barnaby

Posted by Steve on 08/07/08 at 08:03 PM ET

Steve, are you a Rangers fan?  Just curious, because you have both Richter and Leetch on the US list.  They’re on my top US players list too, but I am definitely a biased Rangers fan.

Posted by K24 on 08/07/08 at 08:11 PM ET

Steve, no Elias love? Cmonnn

For the russians, I only considered NHL stats, which is unfair in a way. Kharlamov and Tretiak are definately in their top few players overall.

For Finland, is that Jarkko or Touomo??

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 08:33 PM ET

ps: I’ve never found video of Orr to be underwhelming...quite the opposite in fact. Maybe I’ve seen only the ‘right’ games, as it were, on nhl network. Orr killing a penalty always amazes me--just the sheer ability to possess the puck.

Posted by underthechestnuttree from LaSalle, Ontario, Canada on 08/07/08 at 08:37 PM ET

The disrespect for Sergei is unfortunate, though expected.

From 1993-1996, Sergei may have very well been the model of the most perfect NHL player ever seen.  Period.  Better than Gretzky.  Statistics aside, the guy was incredible offensively, and even more incredible defensively.  It’s a damn shame his career has dipped like this.

Posted by Huss from Sarasota, FL on 08/08/08 at 05:06 AM ET

No, not a Rangers fan. I just happen to think they had two of the five best Americans to ever play the game.

I’ll agree to disagree on Orr.

As far as Elias, he was very good for a very short period of time and has generally looked pretty underwhelming outside of that.

I think Federov is more than a bit of a stretch to be lumped in with Gretzky; the next time NHLnetwork shows the Kings’ failed ‘93 cup run, it might be worth giving it a watch. I see a lot of breathing room between those two players. The only forward that I’ve seen that I’d say has an argument for being as dominant as Gretzky is Lemieux and, since Lemieux didn’t make every single pass soft, blind, airborne, unintercepted and tape-to-tape--or seemingly bank every slapshot off the inside of the post, I don’t really think Lemieux wins that argument despite the fact that his across-the-board-superior physical skills (much bigger, much stronger, much faster, harder shot, similar hand-eye coordination, much better stickhandler, much longer reach, not nearly as soft) usually left him with more options (or at least more obvious options) on any given play than the Great One. A lot of Lemieux’s most impressive work was unfathomable: deking a goalie with two (even three) guys on his back, dancing a Norris trophy winner, burning everyone on the ice, making double bank shots after being hooked onto his wallet, scoring on a between the legs shot during play, choosing to take a slapshot instead of trying to win the faceoff and cashing in. Gretzky, however, had mostly better results over the course of his career and did so with more economy of effort. In short, Gretzky’s way, thouguh more subtle, was more efficient and worked better. That’s all the difference for me.

On a side note, it’s interesting watching Gretzky then watching Crosby (who would be, arguably, the current best playmaker). Their shooting ability isn’t comparable: Crosby wouldn’t appraoch 900 goals even with the terrible goaltenders of the 1980s, but Crosby uses a lot of the same passing seams and also hits the tape. However, his passes are a million miles an hour (presumably to avoid turnovers) and difficult to receive. The receiver flubs it more often than not, because the pass is unexpected and comes way, way too fast. With Gretzky, his timing was so deceptive he could just float his passes through the air and wrong foot everyone, while still giving the receiver time to accept it. Not even McSorely could flub his passes.

That tangent aside, the only reason I left Federov off the list is because I already listed about five guys at number 3 for Russia, which is where I’d put Federov and another half-dozen awesome Russian hockey players like:  Konstantinov, Makarov, (likely, eventually) Kovalchuk/Ovechkin/Malkin, etc.

Posted by Steve on 08/08/08 at 09:14 PM ET