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NHL battle of the nations 1995–96

Russia won the 1995–96 nations league ahead of Czechia, when every country is weighed by how good its players are rather than how many there are. Sweden sits fourth. Counted in raw points Canada won, as always.

The nations league ranks the 8 countries with at least five NHL skaters in five disciplines and adds up the placings.

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1995–96Last season82/82 games
8 countries with at least five skaters. First in a category gets 8 points, second 7 and so on down to 1 for last. The table is the total.
1
RussiaRussia56 players
VANAlexander Mogilny107 ptsWINNikolai Khabibulin26 W
Rate2ndTop trio3rdBlue line1stGoalies3rdPer million7th
29pts
2
CzechiaCzechia35 players
PITJaromir Jagr149 ptsBUFDominik Hasek22 W
Rate4thTop trio2ndBlue line7thGoalies1stPer million3rd
28pts
3
SlovakiaSlovakia9 players
NYIZiggy Palffy87 pts
Rate1stTop trio7thBlue line3rdGoalies6thPer million5th
23pts
4
SwedenSweden35 players
COLPeter Forsberg116 ptsNYITommy Söderström11 W
Rate6thTop trio5thBlue line4thGoalies5thPer million2nd
23pts
5
CanadaCanada533 players
PITMario Lemieux161 ptsDETChris Osgood39 W
Rate8thTop trio1stBlue line8thGoalies4thPer million1st
23pts
6
FinlandFinland14 players
WINTeemu Selanne108 pts
Rate5thTop trio6thBlue line2ndGoalies6thPer million4th
22pts
7
USAUSA151 players
EDMDoug Weight104 ptsWSHJim Carey35 W
Rate7thTop trio3rdBlue line6thGoalies2ndPer million6th
21pts
8
Ukraine6 players
WSHPeter Bondra80 pts
Rate3rdTop trio8thBlue line5thGoalies6thPer million8th
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 8 points, second 7 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 0.46 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.

855 players and 17 814 points in the NHL this season.

Russia accounts for 9.4% of all NHL points with 6.5% of the players. Sweden has 4.1% of the players and 5.4% of the points, and sits fourth in raw points.

Total points

CanadaCanada
9 958
USAUSA
3 030
RussiaRussia
1 670
SwedenSweden
960
CzechiaCzechia
953
FinlandFinland
429
SlovakiaSlovakia
322
Ukraine
210

Goalie wins

CanadaCanada
639
USAUSA
193
RussiaRussia
41
CzechiaCzechia
22
SwedenSweden
12
SlovakiaSlovakia
0
FinlandFinland
0
Ukraine
0
The nations league's five categories plus raw points and player count. The higher value takes the round.
Sweden
Sweden
4th in the league
2–5
Canada
Canada
5th in the league

Canada wins 5–2 against Sweden.

0.55Points per game0.43
269Best trio400
0.36Defencemen's points per game0.28
.886Goalies' save percentage.898
3.3NHL players per million inhabitants13.3
960Total points9 958
35Players in the NHL533
Sweden against Canada season by season
The winner's flag above Sweden's placing. Sweden has won 6 of the last 30 seasons.
CzechiaCzechia7 titlesSwedenSweden6 titlesRussiaRussia6 titlesCanadaCanada4 titlesFinlandFinland3 titlesSlovakiaSlovakia2 titlesUSAUSA1 titleGermanyGermany1 title
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