They dont wear girdles they wear pants
All of the teams in the NHL have American players.
Yes and No, Goalies in the NHL do NOT have to wear one As the "NHL Rules" only said that "Goaltenders are highly suggested to wear a sort of protective helmet" which means they don't have to if they don't want to. But if they come into the game with one they must wear it during the game but if they show up without one no one can stop him from playing because of it. But players do.
As of now, there are no openly gay hockey players in the NHL. However, in a recent poll of all NHL players, over 80% of them said they believe they have a gay teammate.
A photo gallery with stats for evey black player who has been drafted by or played in the NHL is the Black Hockey Players Wall of Fame.
This question is difficult to answer as the AHL is the main development league for the NHL. While some gifted players come right out of junior, college or Europe and step right into the NHL, the vast majority of NHL players have played in the AHL at some point for varying amounts of time until they have developed their skills. There is, obviously, no rule about how many players can come from the minor league. NHL teams recall their players as they see a need.
Zach Parise
Nobody
You can in-fact wear a full cage in the NHL. The reason why players do not wear a cage is because it obstructs vision.
Players playing in the All Star games wear them
Fabian Brunnstrom of the Dallas Stars
Alexander Ovechkin and formerly Cam Neely
One was Jiri FischerSee his stats: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/1936
These are called "Skate Fenders".
There are 37 Russian Born Players in NHL
All of the teams in the NHL have American players.
some NHL players started to wear them in 2009 so it's likely in 2009
Shneider and Calamari were Jewish NHL players.