I am a Canadian living and working in the United States so I feel like I can offer a fairly unbiased perspective. Just taking a cursory glance at some of the posts, the Canadian posters seem to grasp onto a rather myopic position. To be brutally honest, a lot of their notions of nationalism are challenged since their perspectives are tainted by pride and emotion. Understandably so.
Analyzing the facts however, proves that the sensationalized view that "America will one day surpass Canada in producing hockey talent" does hold some merit. One cannot simply quantify the validity of this phenomenon by establishing a time-line. This is something that won't occur in the next five, twenty-five or even fifty years! Nevertheless, given the current progression, how can anyone say that America won't surpass Canada someday down the line? 100-200 years later, if the NHL continues to exist, I am confident that America has a great shot at achieving this.
Although the NHL draft isn't the most accurate barometer, the growth and development of American hockey has been unbelievable.
-In 2007, the 1st and 2nd overall picks have been Americans. Eight players drafted in the 1st round have been Americans.
-In 2006, the 1st, 5th, 7th and 8th overall picks have been Americans. Ten players drafted in the first round were Americans. Only 11 players drafted in the first round were Canadians.
-In 2005, the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th overall picks were Americans. Eight players drafted in the first round were Americans. Only 13 players drafted in the first round were Canadians.
You go back 10 years to 1997, 1996 and 1995. The difference is night and day.
-In 1997, only three players drafted in the first round were Americans.
-In 1996, only three players drafted in the first round were Americans.
-In 1995, only one player drafted in the first round was American.
At this pace of development, the Americans will progress past Canada one day in terms of producing top hockey talent in both quantity and quality. Canadians can argue that their culture is synonymous with hockey and the atmosphere that is conducive to hockey is unparalleled. True, but the American population is 300 million as opposed to Canada's 30 million.
As more and more Americans follow hockey, this trend will continue to grow. Also, places like Texas, California, Florida and the entire American south has only recently been introduced to hockey. Within a decade, you'll start to see those states churn out hockey talent. Actually, California already has with Jon Blum drafted in the 1st round this year. Blum is a 1989 birth and Gretzky inspired hockey in California in 1993 when Blum was four years old. As more and more of these American kids grow up with hockey as teams like Carolina, Anaheim and Tampa win the cup, more and more American kids will develop into viable NHL'ers one day.
Also, don't forget the talent-drain. Tons of NHL talent from Gretzky to Brett Hull to Crosby (1st in NHL scoring this year) to Stasny (30th in scoring) to Tanguay (25h in NHL scoring) to thousands of others were influenced by their fathers growing up. All these fathers played integral parts in the development of these kids in their hockey lives since they either played, was drafted or was a part of hockey. 24 of the 30 NHL teams are located in America. As the top Canadian, European, American and world talent relocates to America and settles there, most of the hockey legacy will be growing their roots in America. For example, as guys like the Niedermayer's, the Pronger's and Tampa's three stars settle in the States, they'll inevitably teach their kids and the kids in their communities to appreciate hockey. A guy like Parise is the perfect example. JP Parise was a 3rd line hockey player who played in the US. He settled there and brought up his son, Zach Parise, to be a hockey player. Zach Parise is now a great NHL player (who is 2nd on NJ in scoring) and who has grown up American.
I've been typing for too long so I'll stop now. But if anyone takes an unbiased look at the torrid progression of American hockey should see the same phenomenon. It is asinine to believe Canada will always remain the superior hockey nation in producing top talent simply because of its culture and climate. Climate is a unparalleled advantage but the difference of 270 million in population easily offsets that. Then we're left with culture. Culture is fluid and changes with time - this is exactly what we're seeing with hockey in the United States.
