TOP 5 AMERICAN BORN PLAYERS IN THE NHL

THN.com, website of The Hockey News features a post every Wednesday called the THN Top 10 which, as you can imagine, is a countdown of various topics in and around the NHL. Recently, they posted the Top 10 Czech Born Players in the NHL, which naturally got me thinking about the upcoming Olympics and World Hockey Championships. So, over the next few days, we'll be counting down the top 5 current NHL players from different countries around the world. First up, the United States of America. Here are the top five American born players currently in the NHL.

5. Phil Kessel- Boston Bruins
The 22-year-old Madison, Wisconsin native is enjoying a breakout season for the first place Bruins. Kessel's 24 goals and 20 assists are both career highs, and he is a plus-15 in 48 games so far this season.

4. Chris Drury- New York Rangers
Drury, now 32, has been a very good NHL player for a long time. He has scored 20 goals or more eight times, and had a career high 37 for Buffalo in 2006-07. The Trumbull, Connecticut native has 233 regular season goals and 46 playoff tallies thus far in his career.

3. Zach Parise- New Jersey Devils
Parise, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, leads New Jersey with 30 goals and 31 assists in 53 games this year. A first time All-Star this season, Parise is strong and physical, and is very dependable for the Devils. He has played at least 81 games in all three of his full seasons in the NHL.

2. Patrick Kane- Chicago Blackhawks
For those of you who say Kane is too high on this list, just wait. The first overall pick in 2007, Kane won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL's Rookie of the Year, and has continued to improve for Chicago. The 20-year-old from Buffalo, New York has 17 goals and 28 assists for the burgeoning Blackhawks, and figures to be an important part of the United States plans in international competition.

1. Ryan Miller- Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres' Miller, originally from East Lansing, Michigan is one of the top netminders in the entire NHL. Now in his sixth season in Buffalo, Miller is 26-13-5 with a 2.45 GAA. He went a stellar 40-16-6 in 2006-07 and has a career goals against average of 2.65 and a career save percentage of .910.

With all due respect to the old guard of American hockey players--Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight-- it's time for these young guns to take the reigns. Rick DiPietro could make this list, but his injury woes continue to haunt him. Also look out for Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Tim Thomas, Dustin Brown, and Erik Johnson to possibly suit up for Team USA in the near future.