Players who are surprisingly not from Europe

[AvroArrow]

On a serious note I thought Gary Nylund was for sure European

 

[Bowski]

Since the thread title is not name-specific.

For years I thought Patrick Marleau was (born and raised) European, as I've seen his doppelgangers in Euro Adult films.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Isn’t Vladislav Namestnikov from Michigan or something?

Right, the classic Latvian name Zeev Buium. If there's one thing anyone knows about Latvian names, surely it's that every name must end with an -s

Zeev Buium is an Israeli name.

Zeev definitely is, Buium is not a common name at all but sounds Israeli enough

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

That young prospect Lindstrom. Not only he is not Swedish, he is black.

EA NHL franchise mode getting more and more realistic.

I loved in Madden franchise mode they would generate rookies with names like Trey’Shawn Washington and they would be blonde haired white kids.

The algorithm doesn’t discriminate

 

[orange drop]

Alex killorn

 

[Bixby Snyder]

There are Vincent's all over Europe. It's a biblical name.

But not many in countries that produce NHLers. Name one European NHLer named Vincent.

 

[LeBrun is a Clown]

But not many in countries that produce NHLers. Name one European NHLer named Vincent.

Vaclav Prospal, which I believe translates to victorious, much like Vincent

 

[Machinehead]

But not many in countries that produce NHLers. Name one European NHLer named Vincent.

Most of them are born in Quebec because the form "Vincent" most commonly used in English-speaking countries is literally French. It's not a name that even has an English derivative.

Also, Victor comes from the same root and there's like 900 of those in the NHL.

 

[LeBrun is a Clown]

.

 

[LeBrun is a Clown]

Vaclav Prospal, which I believe translates to victorious, much like Vincent

Side note: There are so many ideations of this name.

Vincent
Vince
Vincenzo
Vinny/Vinnie/Vinni
Vin
Vicente
Vincentius

Think I’m missing out on a few too lol

Alex killorn

I always thought he was Czech or something.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Anders Bjork, and his cousin Erik Condra as well actually

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

If you are white and are born in North America boy do I have some news for you......you won't believe it!

 

[Huokaus]

The first names are almost always a giveaway that a player is North American.

Kuemper, Bayreuther, Guenther, Eichel, Eberle, etc. are obviously all German names. But then you see "Darcy, Gavin, Dylan, Jack, and Jordan" - Those just aren't names that Germans, Swiss, or Austrians give their kids.

It's the same with other European countries / languages. Ray Ferraro, Kyle Palmieri, Jason Spezza or John Tavares. Pretty clearly those guys are Canadian or American with names like that. Guys like Fernando Pisani and Milan Lucic where the whole name "looks" European are the exceptions.

Obviously UK/Ireland and France are exceptions. But none of those countries are producing large amounts of pro hockey players.

I don't mean to do the whole "North America bad, I'm a smug European" thing, but I don't know how else to word it - I'm often quite surprised how bad North Americans are at understanding that super-duper American names should usually be a dead giveaway that a player isn't European (and yes, I know, most of these names have origins in Europe). Like that 99,9% of the time a player named Chad, Brandon, Steven, or Jamal is going to be North American regardless of their last name. There are exceptions like Douglas Murray or Brad Lambert, but you're usually going to hear about that as a trivia tidbit at some point.

 

[MadArcand]

But not many in countries that produce NHLers. Name one European NHLer named Vincent.

It's a common enough name in Slovakia (e.g. Vincent Lukáč).

As already mentioned, first name is usually a dead giveaway - just looking at the Canes, a Slavín would likely be Slovak/Czech, but a Jaccob? Never. A Güntzel would make excellent German, but a Jake? Nope. Antonio DeAngelo would be Italian, but not Anthony. That said, Stefan Nösen could pass for German no problem.

 

[Kranix]

I always thought Brent Sopel had to be European. That was my own fault, ignoring his first name, "Brent."

 

[MadArcand]

I always thought Brent Sopel had to be European. That was my own fault, ignoring his first name, "Brent."

Given that his surname literally means snot in Slovak/Czech, I'm not sure he'd have kept that.

 

[Kranix]

Given that his surname literally means snot in Slovak/Czech, I'm not sure he'd have kept that.

I mean, he could have been from a non-slav country in Europe.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

“Kevin” is a surprisingly common name in Germany

 

[Rpenny]

I just realized that Trochek is American! lol This reminded me of how Milan Lucic is surprisingly from BC. Which had me thinking- what other NHLers are surprisingly not from Europe given their names?

Unless you name is Running Bear, Shitting Deer or Uncle f***ing Fox, your family are not originally from North America

 

[bov]

Milo Roelens.

 

[mattihp]

“Kevin” is a surprisingly common name in Germany

Sweden too, but exclusively for white trash that usually quickly get into pretty crime

 

[Primary Assist]

Side note: There are so many ideations of this name.

Vincent
Vince
Vincenzo
Vinny/Vinnie/Vinni
Vin
Vicente
Vincentius

Think I’m missing out on a few too lol


I always thought he was Czech or something.

Mortimer, another variation

Alex Nedeljkovic should be European, to the extent I assume he has a forged birth certificate

 

[namttebih]

Wahlstrom has at least one swedish parent.

Samuelssons dad is swedish and a former NHLer.

Haven't checked but quite sure Anders Bjork (Björk) has at least one swedish parent given the name.



Just like oil, his dad would float a lot.

It only looked that way because he was such a slick skater.

 

[LeBrun is a Clown]

Unless you name is Running Bear, Shitting Deer or Uncle f***ing Fox, your family are not originally from North America

Wellllll technically not even that group is originally from NA.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Wellllll technically not even that group is originally from NA.

Difference is 50,000 years vs 300