Over the years, hockey fans have debated whether the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs were worthy of the title of “Canada’s team.”
But as things stand right now, the answer is pretty clear — and it’s not just because Montreal wears a red jersey.
With defenceman Arber Xhekaj rejoining the team in time for opening night, the Canadiens now have 18 Canadian-born players on their roster. Previously tied with the Vegas Golden Knights at 17, the Habs are now officially the NHL’s most Canadian team.
The following players all hail from the Great White North, allowing the Canadiens to live up to their team name:
- Nick Suzuki
- Josh Anderson
- Alex Newhook
- Kirby Dach
- Tanner Pearson
- Sean Monahan
- Brendan Gallagher
- Jake Evans
- Rafael Harvey-Pinard
- Michael Pezzetta
- Michael Matheson
- David Savard
- Kaiden Guhle
- Johnathan Kovacevic
- Arber Xhekaj
- Justin Barron
- Jake Allen
- Samuel Montembeault
As goaltender Carey Price has been dealing with a long-term injury, he can’t be listed on the starting roster. But the Anaheim Lake, BC, native is expected to be in attendance when the team hosts their home opener on Saturday.
So let’s just call it an arguable 19.
As for where the rest of the Habs hail from, the second-most popular nationality on the active roster is American. But right now, forwards Cole Caufield and Jesse Ylonen, and defenceman Jordan Harris are the only three players on the team born in the United States.
That number could jump up to five with a healthy Christian Dvorak and Chris Wideman.
Most surprisingly, perhaps, is the lack of European representation. With Joel Armia recently being sent down to the AHL, Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky is Montreal’s only European-born player.
While it may be subject to change throughout the year, Montreal’s very Canadian roster will kick off their season on the road Wednesday night when they take on Toronto.
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