Sabres Have Heavy North American Influence

In the spirit of the 2010 Winter Olympics I decided to break down the Sabres roster by Country. The Sabres roster is heavily influenced by North American talent and Americans in particular. Of the 13 forwards on the Sabres roster, seven of them are Americans. When breaking down the top six there are three Americans and one Canadian. Of course Thomas Vanek is Austrian and Jochen Hecht is German and both are currently top six forwards.

A chart like this is never an exact science because so many players have dual citizenship. Jason Pominville and Tyler Myers are dual citizens on the Sabres roster. I listed Pominville as an American because that is where he chose to play in international hockey and I listed Tyler Myers for the same reason.

Follow the jump for a breakdown of the Sabres by Country.

Sabres Roster by Country

The pie charts are difficult to read but they give you a better idea of the Sabres roster breakdown. I find it interesting that only four countries are represented on the front line for the Sabres and over half the forwards are American.

Goals Scored by Country

Points by Country

The Charts above serve very little purpose but it does make us aware of the makeup of the team. For argument sake I went through the rosters of the division leaders to look at country of origin and I was surprised at the number of Canadians on the rosters, especially the Capitals and Sharks. San Jose has 14 Canadians on the roster and only four Americans.

If you want to use that as an excuse for the Sabres recent decent in the standings, I will remind you that the New Jersey Devils are constructed much like the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils have a total of eight Americans on their roster and they are currently second place in the Eastern Conference.