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NHL battle of the nations 1990–91

USA won the 1990–91 nations league ahead of Sweden, when every country is weighed by how good its players are rather than how many there are. Sweden sits second. 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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1990–91Active 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
USAUSA121 players
CHIJeremy Roenick94 ptsPITTom Barrasso27 W
Rate4thTop trio2ndBlue line1stGoalies1stPer million5th
22pts
2
SwedenSweden17 players
LAKTomas Sandström89 pts
Rate2ndTop trio3rdBlue line2ndGoalies5thPer million4th
19pts
3
CanadaCanada538 players
LAKWayne Gretzky163 ptsCHIEd Belfour43 W
Rate6thTop trio1stBlue line6thGoalies3rdPer million1st
18pts
4
CzechiaCzechia19 players
WSHMichal Pivonka70 ptsCHIDominik Hasek3 W
Rate3rdTop trio5thBlue line5thGoalies2ndPer million3rd
17pts
5
RussiaRussia12 players
DETSergei Fedorov79 pts
Rate1stTop trio4thBlue line4thGoalies5thPer million6th
15pts
6
FinlandFinland11 players
EDMEsa Tikkanen69 ptsMNSKari Takko4 W
Rate5thTop trio6thBlue line3rdGoalies4thPer million2nd
15pts
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 0.51 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.

736 players and 15 485 points in the NHL this season.

USA accounts for 17.5% of all NHL points with 16.4% of the players. Sweden has 2.3% of the players and 4.2% of the points, and sits third in raw points.

Total points

CanadaCanada
10 558
USAUSA
2 710
SwedenSweden
643
CzechiaCzechia
533
RussiaRussia
395
FinlandFinland
254

Goalie wins

CanadaCanada
587
USAUSA
113
FinlandFinland
4
CzechiaCzechia
3
SwedenSweden
0
RussiaRussia
0
The nations league's five categories plus raw points and player count. The higher value takes the round.
Sweden
Sweden
2nd in the league
4–3
Czechia
Czechia
4th in the league

Sweden wins 4–3 against Czechia.

0.59Points per game0.53
225Best trio195
0.41Defencemen's points per game0.38
–Goalies' save percentage.888
1.6NHL players per million inhabitants1.7
643Total points533
17Players in the NHL19
Sweden against Czechia 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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