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teztify · 07-17-2020, 01:59 AM

International Representation in the S55 SHL Entry Draft

The Simulation Hockey League Entry Draft is one of the marquee events of the season, not just for the SHL itself and its teams, but for the hockey world at large. Spectators from around the globe tune in to watch and cheer as young players from their home countries take the stage and don their new colours, with hope that it won’t just be their new club team finding success but their homeland as well.

While the night is mostly about the players and the SHL teams they call home, it’s also a night that allows national team programs around the world to see how their young prospects are measuring up, at least in the eyes of SHL scouts. While this may not tell us all we need to know about the future strength of individual national teams, it does offer perhaps a glimpse at what may be to come.

In this article, we’ll examine which countries were represented in the Season 55 SHL Entry Draft. This allows us to get a sense of where the most elite prospects in the game are coming from, and gives us a chance to challenge our preconceptions about where the strongest talent may lie. Or perhaps those old assumptions will simply be proven true. Looking at this data over time gives us an interesting opportunity to study the growth of the game around the world, as more and more players may come from a developing hockey nation over time. A look at an individual season won’t afford us that opportunity, but future articles might just.

In all, 17 countries were represented in the S55 SHL Entry Draft, with an additional three more mysterious birthplaces (Timeless Halls, Parts Unknown, and Mobius) bringing our total up to 20.

Unsurprisingly, the largest number of players chosen in the draft hailed from Canada. A nation hard to argue against being the home of hockey, Canadians had a lot to cheer for on draft night. 13 Canadian players heard their name called throughout the evening, representing over one fifth of the draft class at 21%.

Coming in right behind Canada are their neighbours to the south, the United States of America. No fewer than 12 Americans – including 2nd overall pick Colin Lambert - were drafted last night, stocking the prospect pool of an already strong international team. This represents exactly one fifth of the draft class.

It’s another pair of neighbours coming in right behind the North American powerhouses – Finland and Sweden at third and fourth respectively! In the top four we’ve seen two of the greatest rivalries in the sport covered, with Canada and Finland each taking bragging rights over their heated rivals. Finland has sent seven players to the SHL through this Entry Draft, including Mr. Irrelevant himself Kolja Kekkonen, who was taken by the Buffalo Stampede with the 158th overall selection.

Meanwhile, there were five Swedes chosen throughout the night – a number the tre kronor would have hoped might be higher after starting the night off right with the first overall pick, Rikard Bjerg.

The countries of Russia and Latvia tie for the fifth most prospects heading to the SHL through this draft, each represented by four players on the night. An interesting note is that a decision was made to keep separate the individual countries of the United Kingdom – with players from England, Wales, and Northern Ireland being selected. Had that decision not been made, the United Kingdom as a whole would also have had a total of four players drafted, moving them into a tie for fifth with Latvia and Russia.

Japan and England each had two of their native sons selected in the draft, which will be seen as big wins for both countries as they historically haven’t been the strongest in the sport. Japan in particular was represented in a big way on the night, which we’ll delve into a little later.

Finally, there was one prospect each selected from the countries of the Czech Republic, Austria, Wales, Iceland, Romania, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Northern Ireland, and Norway as well as the aforementioned Timeless Halls, Parts Unknown, and Mobius.

As we can see above, the players chosen in the S55 SHL Entry Draft came exclusively from the northern hemisphere – at least, depending on where you consider “Parts Unknown” to be located. While this isn’t overly problematic for the game or the health of the league – this being a surprisingly strong, deep draft class – it would be nice to see a bit more colour in more southern regions of the globe on the chart above. This will doubtlessly be a focus for the international body responsible for the game – the IHF – as they attempt to reach more fans around the world, and for the SHL as well as they look to tap into more diverse economic markets.

In the above chart, we can take a closer look at where the highest end talent in the draft comes from. There were eight countries represented in the first round of the S55 SHL Entry Draft, which would seem to be quite a strong number and indicative of the growing diversity in the game in terms of where elite talent is sourced from. This is particularly true when you consider that no country had a second player chosen until after the fifth overall pick, as picks one through five in the draft each came from a unique country in the order listed above.

While the Swedes only managed to have five players chosen in total all night, they certainly made it count with three of them being selected in the first round. To put that another way, 60% of the players chosen from the fourth-most represented country (out of 17) were chosen in the first round! With Bjerg, Alexander Oscarsson, and Jöörgüštrâäd DuBølk coming up through the pipeline, the Swedish hockey program has a lot to look forward to.

The Americans were next, as Lambert heard his name called early. The USA was also the first country to have a second player chosen, as Teddy Park was picked with the sixth-overall selection. Joining those two as first round picks are Terrence “Big Terry” Smith and Ryan Rieley, giving the Americans a total of four players chosen in the first round – the most of any country, tied with their historic rivals: Canada.

While this might come as a surprise to the uninformed, it’s no surprise when you consider how Ryu Jones played this past season. Japan was the next country to be represented, as their star prospect went third overall. This was one of just two picks from Japan, but to have a player chosen so early will certainly do wonders for the popularity of the game in an important market for the SHL if they hope to grow internationally.

Conner Hutton was the first Canadian taken, going fourth overall to the New Orleans Specters. Only the first of four Canadians chosen in the round, he was joined by Devin Basher as well as Chris Goodname and Axel Foley who went back-to-back with the ninth- and tenth-overall picks. Not only did the Canadians tie for the most prospects chosen in the first round, but the four represent only 30% of the Canadians chosen all evening.

Lastly, there was a single player chosen from each of Austria, Iceland, Finland, and Russia to close out the first round – those being Theo Kondos, Guðmundur Kristjánsson, Igor Victory, and Adrik Baranov respectively. That means that 100% of the players chosen from Austria and Iceland were top-end first round prospects – certainly not a negative, although they’ll wish they were able to add more depth to their ranks as well.

What does all this mean for the landscape of the IHF? Does it foreshadow any shift in the power dynamic of international hockey? We’ll have to watch how these prospects develop to find out.

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Words: 1337 (2x Draft Media)

4 Charts

overdoo · 07-17-2020, 02:11 AM

caltroit_red_flames · 07-17-2020, 02:14 AM

:sadpepe:

Wearingabear · 07-17-2020, 09:45 AM

***WannabeFinn*** · 07-17-2020, 09:47 AM

TORILLA TAVATAAN Finland

DonutDefender · 07-17-2020, 12:57 PM

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