from Tal Pinchevsky of the New York Times,

When the two-day Quebec Hockey Summit took place in Montreal in 2011, it touched on issues including head injuries and ways to improve the game.

But the prominent topic of conversation in panels featuring former N.H.L. players like Luc Robitaille, Guy Carbonneau and Bobby Smith was a potential crisis looming large over the province: Where have all the Québécois N.H.L. players gone?

The province known for grooming many of hockey’s most charismatic stars has hit something of a developmental rut over the last two decades. Gone are the days of dominant French Canadian stars like Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Gilbert Perreault, Guy Lafleur, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.

That may have never been more evident than at the N.H.L. draft in June, when 14 players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League were selected, by far the lowest total since 2004. Of those 14 players, only eight were born in the province.

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