The Young Americans

Of  the six Canadian-based NHL teams, Edmonton is the most far removed from the American border.

Although furthest away, Edmonton is home to may American born players. At the turn of the millennium, nearly half of the Oilers’ lineup hailed from the United States, and considering that less than 20 per cent of all NHLers are American-born, the Oilers’ percentage is above the norm.

Between 1999-2001, the Oilers had more Americans than any other team in the league, including Bostonians Bill Guerin, Tom Poti, Dan LaCouture and Mike Grier, Buffalo’s Todd Marchant, Alaska’s Brian Swanson, New Jersey native Jim Dowd, and Warren, Michigan, native Doug Weight.

"I think a lot of it is coincidence," said Weight. "But it also shows how far the U.S. college system has come and that the Oilers are aware of that. It is ironic, and I like to have fun with the people up here in Canada, just as they like to have fun with me. But I think it shows just how much respect Canada has for the way Americans play the game of hockey, the same kind of respect Americans have always had for the way Canadians play hockey. I don’t think you can call it a ‘Canadian style’ anymore, with the physical play and the smaller-sized, or should I say right-sized rinks. I think you have to call it a North American style of play. We like to hit."

Weight is right about Oilers’ faith in the American college system. Even many of the team’s Canadian-born players who made appearances in the roster between 1999-2001 went through the American college system rather than the more established Canadian junior system.

The tradition of drafting from the NCAA  began in Edmonton's inaugural NHL year, when the Oilers drafted Glenn Anderson, a Canadian-born winger playing at the University of Denver, in 1979. Since then, players like Mike Comrie, Rem Murray, Anson Carter and Shawn Horcoff have been drafted by the Oilers

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