Walk into any NHL locker room today and you'll hear a cacophony of languages and accents from around the world. Rewind 50 years ago and the acoustics were much different.
Take the 1970 Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins. Their roster had more Canadians than a season of "Letterkenny," with U.K. native Ken Hodge the lone outlier. Contrast that with the 2020 champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had six nations represented on their roster.
As the scope of the league's talent search broadened through the years, the NHL became the premier destination for the world's greatest players.