ATD Diversity Over Time:
A short study of non-Canadian players on ATD conference finalists through the years. Reserves are listed in parentheses ().
ATD #6:
Champion: chelios, persson
Finalist: nedomansky, b. holik, kasatonov, lutchenko
Conf. Finalist: tkachuk, leclair, krutov, larionov, makarov, hlinka, pospisil, chara, samuellson, ozolinsh, (gonchar)
Conf. Finalist: tikkanen
- total non-Canadians: 18
- most non-Canadians: 11
- least non-Canadians: 1
- mean non-Canadians per team: 4.5
ATD #7:
Champion: (hossa)
Finalist: jagr, (steen)
Conf. Finalist: (holmstrom)
Conf. Finalist: zubov, johansson
- total non-Canadians: 6
- most non-Canadians: 2
- least non-Canadians: 1
- mean non-Canadians per team: 1.5
ATD #8:
Champion: n/a
Finalist: k. stevens, (barrasso), (kuzkin), (konovalenko)
Conf. Finalist: petrov
Conf. Finalist: griffis, dillon, holecek, vasiliev, norstrom, jir. holik
- total non-Canadians: 11
- most non-Canadians: 6
- least non-Canadians: 0
- mean non-Canadians per team: 2.75
ATD #9:
Champion: nedomansky
Finalist: brimsek, griffis, davydov, (konolavenko)
Conf. Finalist: selanne, chara, (olausson)
Conf. Finalist: tkachuk, larionov, (zetterberg)
- total non-Canadians: 11
- most non-Canadians: 4
- least non-Canadians: 1
- mean non-Canadians per team: 2.75
ATD #10:
Champion: maltsev, lidström (c), (vikulov)
Finalist: m. howe, bure, tikkanen, gustafsson, vasiliev, davydov, chara, hasek, (ozolinsh)
Conf. Finalist: kharlamov, petrov, mikhailov, ruotsalainen, tregubov
Conf. Finalist: jagr
- total non-Canadians: 18
- most non-Canadians: 9
- least non-Canadians: 1
- mean non-Canadians per team: 4.5
ATD #11:
Champion: leclair, stastny, martinec, suchý
Finalist: guerin, chelios, makarov, fetisov
Conf. Finalist: n/a
Conf. Finalist: hasek, ivanov, (jonsson)
- total non-Canadians: 11
- most non-Canadians: 4
- least non-Canadians: 0
- mean non-Canadians per team: 2.75
ATD #12:
Champion: n/a
Finalist: chelios, jagr, naslund, datsyuk, alexandrov, almetov, loktev, (konovalenko), (guerin)
Conf. Finalist: steen, nilsson, loob
Conf. Finalist: maltsev, naslund, kuzkin, (vikulov)
- total non-Canadians: 16
- most non-Canadians: 9
- least non-Canadians: 0
- mean non-Canadians per team: 4
ATD 2010:
Champion: tkachuk, martinec, jir. holik, salming, (liapkin)
Finalist: bure, holmstrom
Conf. Finalist: konstantinov, bubla, (dzurilla)
Conf. Finalist: stastny, maltsev, mikhailov, h. sedin, chara, (d. sedin)
- total non-Canadians: 16
- most non-Canadians: 6
- least non-Canadians: 2
- mean non-Canadians per team: 4
ATD 2011:
Champion: selanne
Finalist: modano, jagr, zetterberg, gusarov, samuelsson, (rautakillio), (straka), (dzurilla)
Conf. Finalist: starshinov, mayorov, palffy, handzus, bilyaletdinov
Conf. Finalist: chernyshev, tretiak, (richter), (shuvalov)
- total non-Canadians: 18
- most non-Canadians: 8
- least non-Canadians: 1
- mean non-Canadians per team: 4.5
ATD 2012:
Champion: lafontaine, leetch, kurri, mogilny, timonen, (demitra)
Finalist: modano, jagr, palffy, naslund, chara, johansson, svoboda, (zhitnik)
Conf. Finalist: guerin, stastny, zetterberg, naslund, gustafsson, jar. holik, tikal, (t. thomas)
Conf. Finalist: leclair, (a. hedberg)
- total non-Canadians: 24
- most non-Canadians: 8
- least non-Canadians: 2
- mean non-Canadians per team: 6
ATD 2013:
Champion: roenick, amonte, schneider, mikhailov (k), balderis, kapustin, (p. sundstrom), (s. thomas)
Finalist: kasatonov, steen
Conf. Finalist: brimsek, kovalchuk, novy, alfredsson, (dvorak), (kralik)
Conf. Finalist: z. parise, starshinov, jir. holik, ruotsalainen
- total non-Canadians: 20
- most non-Canadians: 8
- least non-Canadians: 2
- mean non-Canadians per team: 5
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One pleasant trend in the draft is the increasing diversity of the successful teams. The old guard which brought the draft into being and produced all of the champions from ATD's #6 - 9 preferred Canadian players, probably at least partially because information was somewhat limited at the time and because Canadian players are disproportionately represented in the THN top-100 and in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Starting in ATD#10, the draft began producing winners not of the first generation, and has gradually become more and more diverse ever since. I'll do a similar study regarding eras in the next couple of weeks, and I'm almost certain we'll find that earlier drafts favored O6/70's/80's players moreso than they do now, at the expense of pre-war (especially very old or PCHA) players, modern players and Europeans.
At any rate, the past two years have been the most diverse in the draft's history, with the current title holders having at once the most Americans, most Europeans, and only non-NHL captain in ATD championship history. As much as we talk about patterns and worry about things getting stale, the ATD continues to grow and diversify parallel to our collective knowledge of the history of the sport.