If I were a Scout, I'd Spend My Time in Saskatchewan
So recently I stumbled upon an obscurity about how many current and former NHL'ers were born in Saskatchewan. There are 17 of the 238 players in the Hockey Hall of Fame have come from Saskatchewan including Bernie Federko, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, Glenn Hall and Gordie Howe. For a province who population is only 1 million now, those are crazy statistics, far above any other area on a per capita basis. So I decided to look at current players and put together the all Saskatchewan team.
Forwards
Scott Hartnell..............Ryan Getzlaf.............Brendan Morrow
Chris Kunitz.................Patrick Marleau.......Brooks Laich
Curtis Glencross..........Jarett Stoll................Colby Armstrong
Darcy Hordichuk.........Mike Sillinger...........Travis Moen
Blake Comeau
Defenseman
Wade Redden.................Luke Schenn
Nick Schultz....................Brendan Witt
Cory Sarich......................Brett Clark
Ryan Parent
Goalies
Cam Ward
Josh Harding
Dan Ellis
Random facts: the total cap hit of these players total 65.1313 million, so it would be unlikely that one could ever make this team. Also, a large number of these players are quite young, in their 20's with Mike Sillinger being the only player nearing retirement.
So there you have it, the all-Saskatchewan team, there may be other markets wear more NHL players come from, but few places produce this kind of talent on a per capita basis.
Forwards
Scott Hartnell..............Ryan Getzlaf.............Brendan Morrow
Chris Kunitz.................Patrick Marleau.......Brooks Laich
Curtis Glencross..........Jarett Stoll................Colby Armstrong
Darcy Hordichuk.........Mike Sillinger...........Travis Moen
Blake Comeau
Defenseman
Wade Redden.................Luke Schenn
Nick Schultz....................Brendan Witt
Cory Sarich......................Brett Clark
Ryan Parent
Goalies
Cam Ward
Josh Harding
Dan Ellis
Random facts: the total cap hit of these players total 65.1313 million, so it would be unlikely that one could ever make this team. Also, a large number of these players are quite young, in their 20's with Mike Sillinger being the only player nearing retirement.
So there you have it, the all-Saskatchewan team, there may be other markets wear more NHL players come from, but few places produce this kind of talent on a per capita basis.
posted by Aidan Tiefenbach at
9:36 PM
6 Comments:
Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you missed one crucial defenseman to the Saskatchewan squad. Robyn Regehr was not born in Saskatchewan but he is from there nonetheless. His parents were missionaries at the time of his birth so he was born in Brazil but he is Canadian and from Saskatchewan so I'm guessing you just missed him by accident or you really think he's that bad.
I just want to add that this team looks AWESOME! Though it may not score a lot of goals in my opinion it sure would be a fierce team to go up against in the playoffs. I'd also put Morrow on the left wing but that's just me...
I did not miss him, I knew that Regehr grew up in Saskatchewan but technically he was not born here. The same could also be said for Coburn who lived in Saskatchewan for most of his life but was technically born elsewhere. I'm sure there are many other players who lived in Saskatchewan for a period of time or players that are on this team who lived elsewhere rather than Saskatchewan during their youth, so I had to draw the line somewhere. I had to base it around some criteria so I picked where players were born.
On another note, I think this team would score fairly well, I like Coburn and Getzlaf and Hartnell that would be a solid line producing 80 to 90 goals a year. And Marleau's line would produce around 75-80 goals a year as well. That's a pretty solid top two lines and I think the defense would be solid as well.
I'd pick this team to make the playoffs every year and yes they would be so tough to play physically to play against. I'd bet they would be one of the league leaders in hits every year.
I understand your need to create a cut-off, but I think Regehr should count for the 3-0-6. What I would find interesting is to see about players who spent significant developmental time in SK (including Brad Richards, Mike Green, Joe Sakic, and others at SJHL and WHL levels), and also an all-time team. Think of the possibilities: Gordie Howe, Elmer Lach, Wendel Clark, Sid Abel, Glenn Hall, Trottier...we'd kill anyone, except maybe Quebec. And that's mainly because of Rocket.
I think we'd struggle against Ontario as well for the all time team. Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Dryden, Paul Coffey, Bobby Hull, Ted Lindsay and Tim Horton. Horton may not be one of the best but his name is worth the most money.
I agree that Quebec would definitely be better than us as well. Mike Bossy, Ray Bourque, Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Marcel Dionne, Doug Harvey, Jean Beliveau, Henri and Rocket Richard, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux, yet Quebec would beat us.
Just a couple of comments:
1.) Personally, I'm kind of surprised Cory Sarich made the cut on a team composed by Aidan.
2.) Where is Derek Boogaard?
3.) You could probably get around the cap hit just by dropping the vastly overpayed Wade Redden.
4.) Wasn't Shane Doan born in SK? I don't know for sure.
5.) The All-Time SK team may lack skill when compared to the rest of the provinces, but we wouldn't be soft. We'd be one of those teams you'd hate to play in the 1st round because even if you win, you're going to have nothing left in the tank.
6.) I'd say the same thing about our present day team.
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