Hispanic Heritage Month 2014: Latin American Born Hockey Players in NHL
Sports have always been an extremely popular activity in numerous Latin American nations.
Soccer, basketball, volleyball and boxing are well liked throughout South America. Hockey has yet to gain as much fame as other sports, but there are numerous players who have played in the National Hockey League from Latin America.
Canada may still be the world's No. 1 hockey nation, but several Latin American countries have contributed to the NHL.
Latin Post.com list the Latino players and countries that have played in the NHL:
Venezuela
Rick Chartraw
The first Latin American-born NHL player was Rick Chartraw, who was born in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in 1954. Chartraw was drafted 10th overall by Montreal Canadiens in 1974 as a hard-hitting defenseman. Chartraw would go on to win five Stanley Cup Championships in his career. His long career in the NHL lasted until 1984 with the Edmonton Oilers and Wayne Gretzky.
Don Spring
The other Venezuelan-born player to play in the NHL was defenseman Don Spring. Spring, like Chartraw, was a small defenseman who could hit opponents hard. Spring played his entire career with the Winnipeg Jets, now the Arizona Coyotes. Spring was selected to the 1979 Canada National team and the 1980 Olympic Team.
Paraguay
Willi Plett
Paraguay only gave the NHL one player, but he was a great scorer. Willi Plett would score 222 career goals in the NHL for the Atlanta Flames, Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins. Twice in his career he score more than 30 goals in a season, 1976 and 1980. For his great rookie season, Plett was awarded the Calder trophy in 1976.
Brazil
Robyn Regehr
In 1998, the Colorado Avalanche drafted Robyn Regehr No. 18 overall. The large defenseman has had a very successful career, mostly for the Flames. Just last season, Robyn Regehr played 79 games and helped the Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup. Regehr has played in over 1,000 career games.
Mike Greenlay
Mike Greenlay was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 1990, but his NHL career wouldn't last long. The young goaltender would go on to play for many other teams in different leagues such as the IHL.
Haiti
Claude Vilgrain
The small country of Haiti produced a talented right winger named Claude Vilgrain. Vilgrain would go on to play for the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers. In 1991, Vilgrain had a very impressive season scoring 19 goals and racking up 27 assists.
For up-to-date sports news, scores, and more, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
