Nashville Predators: In an international sport, Sweden impacts Predators

Hockey is truly an international sport, maybe more than any other. While Canada is the most represent, the Nashville Predators have their eye on Sweden.

Fact: Hockey is an international sport. While over 60-percent of the NHL hails from Canada, the United States and Scandinavian countries are well represented. Swedish players make up over four-percent of all NHL players, which is third of all countries. There is just something about Swedish hockey players that David Poile seems to be attracted to when he’s looking for prospects. And now, they are making an impact on the Nashville Predators.

The current Predators’ roster includes five players from the native land of Sweden. Those five players are Pontus Aberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok and Mattias Ekholm. Each one of those players were key parts in the Predator’s Stanley Cup Playoff run. The Predators likely had great support coming from Sweden during the playoffs.

Last Seasons’ Contributions

Last season, Arvidsson and Forsberg, both Swedes, led the team in goals with 31 goals apiece. Overall, the Swedish players on the team had 81 goals, as well as 94 assists. Arvidsson also led the Predators in points last season, as he had 61 points, with 31 goals and 30 assists. Forsberg wasn’t far behind, as he had 58 points, with 31 goals and 27 assists.

Jarnkrok was a solid player last year for the Predators as he had 31 points overall, with 15 goals, and 16 assists. Ekholm contributed 23 points last season, with three goals and 20 assists.

Even though he only scored one goal and one assists during the regular season, Aberg showed up big for the Predators in the playoffs as he had two goals and three assists.

Sweden’s Talent

Sweden has been producing great talent throughout the years. In fact, there is a local town that is well-known for producing good hockey talent. The NHL has witness productive players like the Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Nicklas Backstrom, Patric Hornqvist, Erik Karlsson and Henrik Lundqvist from this area.

As well as those players, Sweden has also produced some of hockey’s great players such as Nicklas Lidstrom and Peter Forsberg.

The Nashville Predators aren’t the only team that has a good amount of players from Sweden. Other teams with a good number of Swedish players is the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes, who each have five, and the Vancouver Canucks, who have 7 Swedish players.

Big production, small countries

Sweden isn’t the only place where David Poile seems to pull talent from. Switzerland is another place where a few Predators reign from. The Predators have three players that are from Switzerland. Those players are Yannick Weber, Roman Josi and Kevin Fiala. Each of those players were key contributors for the Predators this past season. Those players from Switzerland accounted for 73 points this past season, including 24 goals.

Smaller countries, such as Switzerland and Sweden, have always been able to produce good talent for the National Hockey League. Poile seems to be attracted to that talent from those smaller countries. He is able to find those “diamond in the rough” type players from those countries.

Next: Emelin Will Put The Smash In Smashville

We all know countries like Canada, the United States and Russia have always been able to produce talent, but in recent history for the Predators, Switzerland and Sweden have had success bringing in key contributors for the Predators.

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