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Who are the top European-born players in NHL history? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Sergei Fedorov (Russia): the first European-trained player to win the Hart Trophy, Fedorov won three Stanley Cups, two Selkes, a Pearson, and the Hart, and was the first Russian player to score 1,000 points in the NHL.
9. Teemu Selanne (Finland): the highest-scoring Finn in league history, Selanne burst onto the scene with a rookie-record 76 goals, and went on to score 684 goals (4x scoring 50+ goals) and rack up 1,457 points during his 21-year NHL career.
8. Borje Salming (Sweden): one of the first European-born and raised players to make an impact in the NHL, Salming spent the majority of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was known for both his toughness and skill (787 career points).
7. Peter Stastny (Slovakia): the second-highest scoring NHL player of the 1980s (behind only Wayne Gretzky), Stastny was one of the first hockey stars from Eastern Europe to defect to the NHL and ultimately scored over 1,200 career points during his Hall of Fame career.
6. Stan Mikita (Slovakia): born in Slovakia, but raised in Canada, Mikita was one of the first great European-born NHL players – spending his entire 22-year career with the Chicago Blackhawks, he accumulated 1,467 career points while winning four Ross Trophies and two Hart Trophies.
5. Jari Kurri (Finland): perhaps the best all-around player on the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, Kurri led the playoffs in goals scored 4x while winning five Stanley Cups with the Oilers; upon retirement, he was the highest scoring Finn in league history, as well as the top career scorer among European-born and bred players.
4. Alex Ovechkin (Russia): the greatest goal-scorer of this generation, Ovechkin has won the Richard Trophy 8x and has scored 30+ goals in every season of his career thus far, including 50+ 8x; moreover, his trophy case includes three Hart Trophies, a Ross Trophy, and three Pearson Awards, as well as a Conn Smythe Trophy in leading the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup.
3. Dominik Hasek (Czech Republic): a six-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion, Hasek is the only goalie to win multiple Hart Trophies (as league MVP), and holds NHL career records for highest SV% (.9223) and lowest GAA in the modern era (2.202).
2. Nicklas Lidstrom (Sweden): the greatest European-born blue-liner of all-time, Lidstrom is tied with Doug Harvey for second-most Norris Trophies (seven), and was the first European-born Conn Smythe winner as well as the first European-born captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team.
1. Jaromir Jagr (Czech Republic): the second-highest point-scorer in NHL history behind only Wayne Gretzky, Jagr is a 5x Ross Trophy, 3x Pearson Award, and 1x Hart Trophy winner who amassed over 1,900 career points over nearly a quarter-decade playing in the league.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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