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NHL battle of the nations 1989–90

USA won the 1989–90 nations league ahead of Finland, when every country is weighed by how good its players are rather than how many there are. Sweden sits fifth. Counted in raw points Canada won, as always.

The nations league ranks the 6 countries with at least five NHL skaters in five disciplines and adds up the placings.

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1989–90Active season80/82 games
6 countries with at least five skaters. First in a category gets 6 points, second 5 and so on down to 1 for last. The table is the total.
1
USAUSA118 players
NYIPat LaFontaine105 ptsMNSJon Casey31 W
Rate4thTop trio2ndBlue line1stGoalies1stPer million5th
22pts
2
FinlandFinland16 players
EDMJari Kurri93 ptsMNSKari Takko4 W
Rate2ndTop trio3rdBlue line5thGoalies4thPer million2nd
19pts
3
CanadaCanada533 players
LAKWayne Gretzky142 ptsBUFDaren Puppa31 W
Rate6thTop trio1stBlue line6thGoalies2ndPer million1st
19pts
4
RussiaRussia9 players
CGYSergei Makarov86 ptsQUESergei Mylnikov1 W
Rate1stTop trio5thBlue line2ndGoalies3rdPer million6th
18pts
5
SwedenSweden22 players
NJDPatrik Sundström76 pts
Rate3rdTop trio4thBlue line3rdGoalies5thPer million3rd
17pts
6
CzechiaCzechia11 players
WSHMichal Pivonka64 pts
Rate5thTop trio6thBlue line4thGoalies5thPer million4th
11pts
How the nations league is counted

Every country with at least five NHL skaters is ranked in five disciplines. First in a discipline is worth 6 points, second 5 and so on down to 1 for last. The league table is the sum. A shared placing gives the same points.

  • Points per gameAll the nation's skaters' points divided by their games, evened out toward the NHL average.
  • Best trioThe three best scorers' points combined.
  • Defencemen's points per gameThe defencemen's points per game, evened out the same way.
  • Goalies' save percentageThe goalies' save percentage, evened out toward the NHL average. A country without a goalie comes last.
  • NHL players per million inhabitantsHow many NHL players the country has per million inhabitants.

The rate disciplines are evened out so that a small country cannot win on one hot player: we add 400 games (300 for defencemen, 1,500 shots for goalies) at the NHL's own average before dividing. This season the NHL average is 0.55 points per game and player. A country with many games is barely affected; one with few is pulled toward the middle.

A player counts for his birth country, except Swedes, who count as Swedish wherever they were born. Players born in Sweden who represent another country count for no country. Regular season only, and only players with at least one game.

725 players and 16 472 points in the NHL this season.

USA accounts for 16.8% of all NHL points with 16.3% of the players. Sweden has 3.0% of the players and 3.8% of the points, and sits third in raw points.

Total points

CanadaCanada
11 667
USAUSA
2 774
SwedenSweden
625
FinlandFinland
500
CzechiaCzechia
304
RussiaRussia
275

Goalie wins

CanadaCanada
626
USAUSA
90
FinlandFinland
4
RussiaRussia
1
SwedenSweden
0
CzechiaCzechia
0
The nations league's five categories plus raw points and player count. The higher value takes the round.
Sweden
Sweden
5th in the league
2–5
USA
USA
1st in the league

USA wins 5–2 against Sweden.

0.57Points per game0.54
213Best trio278
0.40Defencemen's points per game0.44
–Goalies' save percentage.884
2.1NHL players per million inhabitants0.4
625Total points2 774
22Players in the NHL118
Sweden against USA season by season
The winner's flag above Sweden's placing. Sweden has won 5 of the last 30 seasons.
RussiaRussia7 titlesCzechiaCzechia7 titlesSwedenSweden5 titlesCanadaCanada4 titlesFinlandFinland3 titlesSlovakiaSlovakia2 titlesUSAUSA1 titleGermanyGermany1 title
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