From Latvia’s Olympic scares to China’s historic draft picks, discover which rising powers are shaking up the international ice and challenging hockey’s traditional global hierarchy.
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Top 5 Emerging Nations—Aug 17, 2015 - VOL. 69, Issue. 02 - Ryan Kennedy
IT’S NO LONGER SHOCKING WHEN SWITZERLAND knocks off Russia at the world juniors or scares the pants off of Canada at the worlds, but that’s recent history. When Latvia almost ended the Canadians’ Olympic hopes in Sochi, eyebrows were raised. That’s why the tiny Baltic nation leads off our ranking of emerging countries to watch.
1. LATVIA
As evidenced by the all-star ballot bonanza surrounding Buffalo’s Zemgus Girgensons, we know Latvians love their hockey. And they’re starting to get good at it. There was the impressive Olympic showing that saw them knock off the Swiss before bowing doggedly to Canada, plus recent draft success that saw six nationals taken in the past three classes, including three in 2015. The Latvians haven’t played in the top tier of the world juniors since 2013, but look for them to be favorites to get promoted this year.
2. DENMARK
It’s all about the high end for the Danes. Nikolaj Ehlers, a likely rookie for the Winnipeg Jets next season, and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus) were a two-man highlight reel explosion at the world juniors and helped the national squad win its first game ever at the competition.
3. BELARUS
The Kostitsyn brothers and Mikhail Grabovski put the nation on the map, but work has continued, and this year the squad will play in the top tier at the world juniors. Flames pick Pavel Karnaukhov will lead the way.
4. NORWAY
Though the Norwegians haven’t done much on big stages lately, there are still prospects coming up, such as Columbus pick Markus Soberg, and Mats Zuccarello has become an integral part of the New York Rangers in recent years.
5. CHINA
Here’s the one to watch with a long-term view. The most populous country on Earth just had its first NHL draft pick when Andong Song was taken by the New York Islanders, and the national under-18 team had another intriguing player in 1998-born Rudi Ying, who is draft eligible in 2016.
