List of National Hockey League players born in the United Kingdom

Joe Hall, born in Staffordshire, won the Stanley Cup twice during the National Hockey Association era, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a major professional ice hockey league which operates in Canada and the United States. Since its inception in 1917–18, 51 players born within the current borders of the United Kingdom have taken part. None of them, however, were trained within the country.^[1] Of these players, 22 are from England, 21 from Scotland, 5 from Northern Ireland and 3 from Wales. Steve Thomas and Owen Nolan played over 1,000 regular season games, while Thomas and Steve Smith are the only ones to have appeared in over 100 playoff games. All three players finished their careers in the 21st century. Currently there are no hockey players born in the UK playing in the NHL following Daniel Taylor's departure from the league in 2013.

The modern form of ice hockey is generally considered to have begun in the mid-19th century. One of the first games to use a puck was played by a group of Englishmen from the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment in Kingston, Ontario.^[2] In the United Kingdom, a five team league was established in 1903, while Great Britain was one of the founding members of the International Ice Hockey Federation five years later. The game was first administrated by the British Ice Hockey Association, from 1914 until 1999, when Ice Hockey UK took over. In the early part of the 20th century the Great Britain national team enjoyed some success: they won gold at the 1936 Olympics,^[2] improving on their result of bronze twelve years earlier; won medals at three World Championships (bronze in 1935, and silver in 1937 and 1938), and won the first European Championships in 1910.^[2] The British team's heavy reliance on Canadian-trained players during its 1936 Olympic run was especially controversial, and prompted a protest from Canadian hockey officials.^[3]

Two players born in the United Kingdom participated in the first season of the NHL. Ken Thompson had played the previous season for the Montreal Wanderers in the National Hockey Association (NHA), and played one game in the NHL before the Wanderers disbanded shortly after their home rink burnt down.^[4] Joe Hall had also played in the NHA prior to the NHL: he spent eight years playing for the Montreal Shamrocks and the Quebec Bulldogs, and won the Stanley Cup twice with the latter side. He joined the Montreal Canadiens for the first season of the NHL. Hall competed in the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals which were cancelled when most of his league champion Canadiens contracted Spanish influenza, and Hall died from flu-induced pneumonia shortly after. In 1961, he became the second player born in the United Kingdom to have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.^{[n 1][8]}

The first Hall of Famer born in the UK was Charlie Gardiner, inducted in 1945.^[9] Described as "one of the game's preeminent goaltenders during the 1920s and 1930s,"^[9] he played seven seasons in the NHL with the Chicago Black Hawks. He won the Vezina Trophy on two occasions, and was named team captain for the 1933–34 season, leading his team to win their first Stanley Cup.^[9] It was the only time a goaltender had captained a Cup-winning side.^[10] Just over two months after the Stanley Cup victory, Gardiner died of a brain hemorrhage.^[9]

Players

Charlie Gardiner, born in Edinburgh, won the Vezina Trophy in 1932 and 1934, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

Owen Nolan, who was born in Northern Ireland, won Olympic gold for Canada.^[11]

Daniel Taylor played 3 times in the NHL, for the Los Angeles Kings.

Key

• Pos – Position, G(Goaltender), D(Defenceman), LW(Left Wing), C(Centre), RW(Right Wing)
• RS – Number of regular season games played in the NHL
• PO – Number of playoff games played in the NHL
•    – Player has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

Name	City	Country	Pos	Debut team	Seasons active	RS	PO	Ref
	Birthplace					Games played
Aitkenhead, AndyAndy Aitkenhead	Glasgow	Scotland	G	New York Rangers	1932–1935	106	10	[12]
Anderson, TomTom Anderson	Edinburgh	Scotland	LW	Detroit Red Wings	1934–1942	319	16	[13]
Beattie, RedRed Beattie	Ibstock	England	LW	Boston Bruins	1930–1939	334	24	[14]
Blair, ChuckChuck Blair	Edinburgh	Scotland	RW	Toronto Maple Leafs	1948–1949	1	0	[15]
Brown, AdamAdam Brown	Johnstone	Scotland	LW	Detroit Red Wings	1941–1952	391	26	[16]
Brown, KevinKevin Brown	Birmingham	England	RW	Los Angeles Kings	1994–2000	64	1	[17]
Carey, GeorgeGeorge Carey	Glasgow	Scotland	RW	Quebec Bulldogs	1919–1924	72	0	[18]
Clark, GordieGordie Clark	Glasgow	Scotland	RW	Boston Bruins	1974–1976	8	1	[19]
Conacher, JimJim Conacher	Motherwell	Scotland	C	Detroit Red Wings	1945–1953	328	19	[20]
Connors, BobbyBobby Connors	Glasgow	Scotland	LW	New York Americans	1926–1930	78	2	[21]
Cude, WilfWilf Cude	Barry	Wales	G	Philadelphia Quakers	1930–1941	282	19	[22]
Dafoe, ByronByron Dafoe	Worthing	England	G	Washington Capitals	1992–2004	415	27	[23]
Evans, JackJack Evans	Morriston	Wales	D	New York Rangers	1948–1963	752	56	[24]
Finney, SidSid Finney	Banbridge	Northern Ireland	C	Chicago Black Hawks	1951–1954	59	7	[25]
Fitzpatrick, SandySandy Fitzpatrick	Paisley	Scotland	C	New York Rangers	1964–1968	22	12	[26]
Frew, IrvIrv Frew	Kilsyth	Scotland	D	Montreal Maroons	1933–1936	96	4	[27]
Gardiner, CharlieCharlie Gardiner	Edinburgh	Scotland	G	Chicago Black Hawks	1927–1934	316	21	[28]
Gray, AlexAlex Gray	Glasgow	Scotland	RW	New York Rangers	1927–1929	50	13	[29]
Grigor, GeorgeGeorge Grigor	Edinburgh	Scotland	C	Chicago Black Hawks	1943–1944	2	1	[30]
Hall, JoeJoe Hall	Staffordshire	England	D	Montreal Canadiens	1917–1919	38	7	[31]
Hepple, AlanAlan Hepple	Blaydon-on-Tyne	England	D	New Jersey Devils	1983–1986	3	0	[32]
Hodge, KenKen Hodge	Birmingham	England	RW	Chicago Black Hawks	1964–1978	881	97	[33]
Holmes, LouLou Holmes	Rushall	England	C	Chicago Black Hawks	1931–1933	59	2	[34]
Jackson, WalterWalter Jackson	Ibstock	England	LW	New York Americans	1932–1936	84	0	[35]
Kirk, BobbyBobby Kirk	Doagh	Northern Ireland	RW	New York Rangers	1937–1938	39	0	[36]
Lee, PeterPeter Lee	Ellesmere	England	RW	Pittsburgh Penguins	1977–1983	431	19	[37]
Mann, NormanNorman Mann	Bradford	England	RW	Toronto Maple Leafs	1938–1941	31	2	[38]
McAdam, SamSam McAdam	Stirling	Scotland	C	New York Rangers	1930–1931	5	0	[39]
McFadden, JimJim McFadden	Belfast	Northern Ireland	C	Detroit Red Wings	1946–1954	412	49	[40]
McManus, SammySammy McManus	Belfast	Northern Ireland	LW	Montreal Maroons	1934–1937	26	1	[41]
Messier, PaulPaul Messier	Nottingham	England	C	Colorado Rockies	1978–1979	9	0	[42]
Munro, DuncDunc Munro	Moray	Scotland	D	Montreal Maroons	1924–1932	239	21	[43]
Nolan, OwenOwen Nolan	Belfast	Northern Ireland	RW	Quebec Nordiques	1990–2010	1,200	65	[44]
Perry, BrianBrian Perry	Aldershot	England	C	Oakland Seals	1968–1971	96	8	[45]
Pettinger, EricEric Pettinger	Bradford	England	LW	Boston Bruins	1928–1931	98	4	[46]
Pettinger, GordGord Pettinger	Harrogate	England	C	New York Rangers	1932–1940	292	47	[47]
Pratt, JackJack Pratt	Edinburgh	Scotland	C	Boston Bruins	1930–1932	37	4	[48]
Riley, JackJack Riley	Birchinlee	England	C	Detroit Red Wings	1932–1936	104	4	[49]
Robertson, FredFred Robertson	Carlisle	England	D	Toronto Maple Leafs	1931–1934	34	7	[50]
Ross, JimJim Ross	Edinburgh	Scotland	D	New York Rangers	1951–1953	62	0	[51]
Smith, AlexAlex Smith	Liverpool	England	D	Ottawa Senators	1924–1935	443	19	[52]
Smith, SteveSteve Smith	Glasgow	Scotland	D	Edmonton Oilers	1984–2001	804	134	[53]
Taylor, DanielDaniel Taylor	Plymouth	England	G	Los Angeles Kings	2007–2013	3	0	[54]
Thomas, CyCy Thomas	Dowlais	Wales	LW	Chicago Black Hawks	1947–1948	14	0	[55]
Thomas, SteveSteve Thomas	Stockport	England	RW	Toronto Maple Leafs	1984–2004	1,235	174	[56]
Thompson, KenKen Thompson	Oakengates	England	LW	Montreal Wanderers	1917–1918	1	0	[4]
Thomson, BillBill Thomson	Troon	Scotland	C	Detroit Red Wings	1938–1944	9	2	[57]
Tomson, JackJack Tomson	Uxbridge	England	D	New York Americans	1939–1941	15	2	[58]
Whitelaw, BobBob Whitelaw	Motherwell	Scotland	D	Detroit Red Wings	1940–1942	32	8	[59]
Wood, AlexAlex Wood	Falkirk	Scotland	G	New York Americans	1936–1937	1	0	[60]
Worthy, ChrisChris Worthy	Bristol	England	G	Oakland Seals	1968–1971	26	0	[61]

See also

• Elite Ice Hockey League

Notes

References

General

• "NHL Players Born in United Kingdom". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved 24 December 2011. 

Specific