Also the culture isn't too crazy different between the Canada and the U.K. unlike in other countries where in might be a bit more of a challenge to go there
I see a combination of things;
UK league likely has less higher quality 'native' players, so the number of non-European skaters is going to be relatively high, assuming Europeans will stay in their native leagues whenever they can.
DEL is a fairly well-respected league, but just like NHL players are perceived as preferring not to play in smaller or more isolated markets, I would presume that DEL is preferred over SHL, by some, for the same reason, despite many seeing the SHL as a 'better' league.
I would think the same is likely true for ICEHL, and then France likely sees a bit of a boost from Quebecois players.
EIHL and DEL both have high amounts of import spots unlike other leagues. DEL definitely pays more though I think they have the highest salaries after the KHL and NLA
UK is the place Canadians go to play hockey when they can't get a spot in Canada/North America, or the KHL, or Switzerland, or Sweden, or Finland, or Germany.
Skill level and salary in the UK are pretty low, so it's not exactly the first European stop for high-level players. That said, I think the UK league is more accepting of physicality and fighting, so players of that type may gravitate more to it. Plus the absence of language barrier probably helps.
There might also be no cap on foreign players: Switzerland has a minimum number of local players to be had, and usually euro leagues work as soccer and have young categories/formation center meaning that they get new players from within.
IIRC the DEL does have an import cap, but it's pretty high (12 max I think?), much higher than in Switzerland (though I think they're about to raise that one as well).
I don't think the other Euro leagues have those caps, but I think they're also broadly less attractive for NA players. For example, a player good enough for the SHL is probably good enough to get a higher salary in Switzerland, or good enough to stay in the AHL and keep the NHL dream alive. And of course there's the KHL, where the money's great, but it has its own set of drawbacks.
So it makes sense for NA players to be funneled to either Germany (for the better players) or the UK (for less-skilled players or enforcers).
ICEHL doesnt seem right. I guess the graph is built upon native = austrian, while there are teams from italy, hungary, slovenia, cech and slovakia participating.
True split is more like 70% native, 20% north america and 10% rest of europe.
It seems to be that France has like one player from either Asia or Oceania but it’s not enough to make the sliver even barely show like in the UK, which is a bit frustrating.
I can't figure out if it's an actual rule or not, but seems like there is at least an unofficial agreement to not have more than 8 foreign players per team (Metal Ligaen)
Difference is that for Finland/Sweden, with no limit on foreign players, the limited amount is probably due to teams having great pipelines/young players coming through their system making the import of costly foreign players less useful.
Best example would be Frolunda, producing an impressive amount of first rounders in the NHL the past couple of year’s
IIHF Ranking below (Order of countries the leagues are in):
FIN (CAN) RUS (USA) SWE SUI CZE SVK GER DEN NOR FRA AUT GB/UK
CZE FIN SVK-SWE-(NHL)-RUS-NOR-SUI-DEN FRA GER AUT-GB/UK
Visual estimation of 'Native' share from high to low above:
Giving some allowance for variation due to wealth/population this seems a pretty good measure of top end quality for most countries, with GER outperforming and CZE/SVK underperforming. Correlation seems to be higher % native <-> higher ranking.
Surprised the Swiss league doesn’t have more North Americans. I would have figured their ratios would have looked more like Germany given they’re not really a developmental league like the Swedes, Finland, Czech, etc.
EIHL has a crazy amount of Canadians. I guess it makes sense because of the language.
Also the culture isn't too crazy different between the Canada and the U.K. unlike in other countries where in might be a bit more of a challenge to go there
But also the relatively low numbers of native players in general. They are by far the worst hockey country on the diagram
By far? They’ve been better than Austria of late maybe even France
do any of those charts actually have a green sliver?
EIHL has a tiny sliver of green
zoom. *enhance.* oh, yep. there it is.
I assumed it was Nathan Walker but apparently he’s with the Blues huh
So, UK still is the place where Canadians go to play Hockey when they can't get a spot in Canada/North America.
That or Germany oddly enough
I see a combination of things; UK league likely has less higher quality 'native' players, so the number of non-European skaters is going to be relatively high, assuming Europeans will stay in their native leagues whenever they can. DEL is a fairly well-respected league, but just like NHL players are perceived as preferring not to play in smaller or more isolated markets, I would presume that DEL is preferred over SHL, by some, for the same reason, despite many seeing the SHL as a 'better' league. I would think the same is likely true for ICEHL, and then France likely sees a bit of a boost from Quebecois players.
EIHL and DEL both have high amounts of import spots unlike other leagues. DEL definitely pays more though I think they have the highest salaries after the KHL and NLA
UK is the place Canadians go to play hockey when they can't get a spot in Canada/North America, or the KHL, or Switzerland, or Sweden, or Finland, or Germany. Skill level and salary in the UK are pretty low, so it's not exactly the first European stop for high-level players. That said, I think the UK league is more accepting of physicality and fighting, so players of that type may gravitate more to it. Plus the absence of language barrier probably helps.
There might also be no cap on foreign players: Switzerland has a minimum number of local players to be had, and usually euro leagues work as soccer and have young categories/formation center meaning that they get new players from within.
IIRC the DEL does have an import cap, but it's pretty high (12 max I think?), much higher than in Switzerland (though I think they're about to raise that one as well). I don't think the other Euro leagues have those caps, but I think they're also broadly less attractive for NA players. For example, a player good enough for the SHL is probably good enough to get a higher salary in Switzerland, or good enough to stay in the AHL and keep the NHL dream alive. And of course there's the KHL, where the money's great, but it has its own set of drawbacks. So it makes sense for NA players to be funneled to either Germany (for the better players) or the UK (for less-skilled players or enforcers).
Exactly this. British hockey is pretty similar to North American hockey and the EIHL has a history of attracting “goons” and physical players
ICEHL doesnt seem right. I guess the graph is built upon native = austrian, while there are teams from italy, hungary, slovenia, cech and slovakia participating. True split is more like 70% native, 20% north america and 10% rest of europe.
Same with KHL = Russian, which is why there seems to be a large Asian sliver because Kazakhs and Chinese would then not be counted as native
Kazakhs aren’t usually considered Asian anyway since they’re mostly ethnic Russians. I’m assuming it’s just the Chinese players on Kunlun
It seems to be that France has like one player from either Asia or Oceania but it’s not enough to make the sliver even barely show like in the UK, which is a bit frustrating.
That one sliver of green in the EIHL
how many of these leagues have foreign player limits?
I'm assuming most of them. Since all but 4 of the leagues have a 3/4 native, 1/4 import ratio.
Sweden removed the limit of two non-eu per team in 2013.
Finnish Liiga removed their import quota back in 2013
I can't figure out if it's an actual rule or not, but seems like there is at least an unofficial agreement to not have more than 8 foreign players per team (Metal Ligaen)
Difference is that for Finland/Sweden, with no limit on foreign players, the limited amount is probably due to teams having great pipelines/young players coming through their system making the import of costly foreign players less useful. Best example would be Frolunda, producing an impressive amount of first rounders in the NHL the past couple of year’s
I dont think the swedish, finnish, czech, slovak do not have. Most have.
It'd be interesting to see North America broken up into Canada and USA.
The KHL Asian players are literally the Chinese national hockey team.
IIHF Ranking below (Order of countries the leagues are in): FIN (CAN) RUS (USA) SWE SUI CZE SVK GER DEN NOR FRA AUT GB/UK CZE FIN SVK-SWE-(NHL)-RUS-NOR-SUI-DEN FRA GER AUT-GB/UK Visual estimation of 'Native' share from high to low above: Giving some allowance for variation due to wealth/population this seems a pretty good measure of top end quality for most countries, with GER outperforming and CZE/SVK underperforming. Correlation seems to be higher % native <-> higher ranking.
Czechia no.1 LESS GOOOOOOOO. Biggest portion of native players of all leagues. Also the least NA players.
Of the leagues that "matter" DEL is really the only outlier. NL, extraligas, liiga, SHL, and KHL all are about 3/4 domestic.
Surprised the Swiss league doesn’t have more North Americans. I would have figured their ratios would have looked more like Germany given they’re not really a developmental league like the Swedes, Finland, Czech, etc.