On this Independence Day, let’s celebrate the three players who were born in this country. Interestingly, they’re all defensemen — Erik Johnson, Zach Redmond and Nate Guenin.
Erik Johnson
U.S. National Teams: World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, IIHF World Juniors Under-18 (2 gold medals), IIHF World Juniors Under-20 (bronze medal, 1 other appearance), IIHF Worlds (bronze medal, 1 other appearance), 2010 Olympic Games (silver medal)
Erik Johnson is perhaps the most patriotic of American-born Avalanche, no offense to Guenin and Redmond. Johnson has simply spent a lot of his young life representing the United States in world competitions.