Got in to a discussion of breakdown of players by nationality. They were convinced NHL is a lot of Russians & didn't believe me when I said it's dominated by Canadians & than Americans. They thought the Russia league would not only be inferior but not as high-paying. I told them a lot of Russians feel loyalty to their homeland league & the KHL is considered a competitive league.

Official Breakdown:
Canada 40%
US 30%
Russia 5%

Not even the old Soviet countries are enough to help Russia w/ the 5% as Sweden 10% & Finland 4% are also in the Top 5

I was right :) But I would've guessed Europe as a whole having a higher percentage.

I think my discussion helped show me why NHL is still 4th of the major US pro leagues. A lot of people (not just in my conversation yesterday; I've met others as well) don't realize how many Americans are actually playing in the league.