Is Minnesota a Hockey Breeding Ground?

by BReynolds on Dec 15, 2011 2:00 PM CST in News

If you squint your right eye and close your left eye, while spinning in a circle, Parise almost looks like he is in a Wild sweater.

We've all met one: the provincial Minnesota hockey fan. Oh they of the "Jeff Taffe is clearly a better option than Dany Heatley" simply because Taffe is from Minnesota. The problem is, they aren't completely wrong. Minnesota has produced, and continues to produce, a fair number of pro hockey players, and a good numbers of star hockey players.

Would I ever dream of trying to field an NHL team of nothing but Minnesotans? Perhaps get Doug Woog as the coach? No. Not a chance. I care more about how good they are at playing hockey than I do about where they were born. Is anyone truly ready to dump Mikko Koivu just because he wasn't born in Hibbing? Come on now.

Still, when the release came from Let's Play Hockey about the growing number of Minnesotans playing professional hockey, I thought you might all like to see the numbers. For your perusal. After the jump.

The Numbers

225 Minnesotans have played at least one professional hockey game during the 2011-12 season
205 men, 20 women
Three more Minnesotans are on rosters, but have not played due to injury
43 Minnesotans have played in the NHL this season
43 Minnesotans have played in the AHL this season
56 have played in other various minor pro teams through out North America
63 Minnesotans have laced up their skates in pro leagues in Europe, Asia, and Australia
117 forwards, 93 d-men, and 15 goalies
15 Minnesotans were drafted by NHL teams at the draft in June, four in the first three rounds
25 Minnesotans are on the "players to watch" list from the NHL's Central Scouting for next year's draft
71 non-Minnesotans that played college hockey in Minnesota have also played pro hockey this season

Impressive numbers, to be sure. So, Wilderness... who is your favorite Minnesota born player (current or former)? Favorite player with ties to Minnesota?

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favorite player

Neal Broten

by Kyle Weaver on Dec 15, 2011 2:04 PM CST reply actions

2nd

Broten was the man!

I remember when before the 1st game of the Stanley Cup a reporter was asking him/telling him about all the international gold medals and first places Fetisov had won playing for the Russian Red Army team. Neal turned to the reporter and calmly said, “ask him about that one silver.” Just Awesome! Devils won in 4 games. that was the first Stanley Cup series I ever got to watch.

Also, Broten is from Roseau which is where my mother was born, so any one who played for the Rams goes to the top of the list.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Dec 15, 2011 11:25 PM CST up reply actions

Fav

Phil Housley

by GopherPuck29 on Dec 15, 2011 2:12 PM CST reply actions

Currently playing favorite

David Backes

Being from Minnesota, it would be rude to put something clever here.

by redheadzeb on Dec 15, 2011 2:15 PM CST reply actions

really?

Captain Meathead? I thought you might try to hush up the fact that he’s from Minnesota…:p

enough of the niceties: time for the eye-gouging..
and yes, I probably *should* be asleep right now!

by mightymike D on Dec 15, 2011 2:30 PM CST up reply actions

Ha ha. He went to school two blocks from my house. Hard to deny his lineage at this point.

Editor:Hockey Wilderness Editor:In Lax We Trust Now with more Twitterness: ReynoldsSBN

Master of unsustainable passive regression.

by BReynolds on Dec 15, 2011 2:45 PM CST up reply actions

And has been the only good thing to happen to Minnesota State University

In the Troy Jutting [coaching] era, anyway.

Being from Minnesota, it would be rude to put something clever here.

by redheadzeb on Dec 15, 2011 3:33 PM CST up reply actions

you guys

really need to start working on the St Louis Hate ahead of next season!

enough of the niceties: time for the eye-gouging..
and yes, I probably *should* be asleep right now!

by mightymike D on Dec 15, 2011 3:37 PM CST up reply actions

I have a friend who played with him in high school

2010-2011 Minnesota Wild Fantasy League Champion
President/CEO of the Tutu Many Slapshots fantasy hockey club

by Chris Winner on Dec 16, 2011 9:47 AM CST up reply actions

Remember when he got named to team USA and then fought like 6-7 Canadian Olympians?

Your 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins

Hockey Blog Adventure is my blog but I'm way more active on Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)

by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Dec 16, 2011 8:22 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Favorite all time?

Housley because I’m from the St. Paul side of town and the guy is a class act. Broten is a close second and if Parise comes to play for the Wild, he might overcome both of them.

I think there is no question that Minnesota produces a lot of quality hockey players, but most of the time it seems the true stars come from out east, Kane, Ryan, Roenick, Lafontaine, etc.

by cgp711 on Dec 15, 2011 2:37 PM CST reply actions

Well,

Sid the Kid did play hockey for my alma mater, so really the best players at least had to play here first.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Dec 15, 2011 11:30 PM CST up reply actions

I'll admit, a lot of NHL players have some sort of Minnesota connection.

by cgp711 on Dec 16, 2011 10:36 AM CST up reply actions

Hot Bed

To add another relevant, and overlooked, homer angle. When considering North American hockey hot beds, you basically have Canada, North East U.S, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Minnesota is by far the area with the lowest population, heck, even Michigan has twice the people. So when you consider the amount of players produced per population, it’s extremely impressive.

by theyarecalledbreezers on Dec 15, 2011 2:57 PM CST reply actions

Favorite...

Gopher / Olympian / Star – Broten
Adopted Son – Vanek
Traitor / Please come back soon – Parise

If you are from Kansas, do NOT pretend to know anything about hockey! Just go back to watching cars make left turns while going really fast!

by "Gophers Eat Badgers" on Dec 15, 2011 3:08 PM CST reply actions

If we're talking adopted son . . .

Mine would have to be Lou Nanne.

by cgp711 on Dec 15, 2011 6:25 PM CST up reply actions

I love him!

He is so great to listen to on KFAN. My husband just bought me his book.

"Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco
"The Sharks got the better deal. They got a Burns. The Wild lost a Burns. You need a Burns to be good." KFAN's Jacques Lemaire 6-25-2011

by minnesotagirl71 on Dec 15, 2011 7:33 PM CST up reply actions

It's an excellent read.

by cgp711 on Dec 15, 2011 9:57 PM CST up reply actions

I'm not Minnesotan

But my favorite Minnesotan player? (HOMER ALERT): Matt Cullen. He does it all. He’s just awesome.

I'm that ''ignorant dumbass'' who writes with the ''whiny idiot homer'' over at Hockey Wilderness.

Twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on Dec 15, 2011 3:39 PM CST reply actions

Bill Butters is my all time fav. Just because of his name though…

by ThatGuy22 on Dec 15, 2011 4:05 PM CST reply actions

now I have South Park in my head..

enough of the niceties: time for the eye-gouging..
and yes, I probably *should* be asleep right now!

by mightymike D on Dec 15, 2011 4:08 PM CST up reply actions

Hmmmm, tough choice...

Neal Broten, cuz he’s freakin awesome and you can’t ignore him.
Dave Christian, cuz I’m a Warroad homer, and I gotta pay homage.

by Rhomy777 on Dec 15, 2011 4:12 PM CST reply actions

Talk about a Rivalry

those 2 towns have to be combined for the most storied in HS tourney history.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Dec 15, 2011 11:32 PM CST up reply actions

don't forget

I think we had five Minny guys on the US Olympic Hockey team last Olympics. And I think a bunch of Minnesotans on the women’s team, too. YAY US!

NHL – I have grown to love Cullen this year.

College – Chad Rau has been really fun to watch this year and we’re both Eden Prairie grads, so I need to cheer on a fellow cake eater.

by minnesotagirl71 on Dec 15, 2011 5:46 PM CST reply actions

Kyle...Kyle Rau ...not Chad

by minnesotagirl71 on Dec 15, 2011 7:34 PM CST up reply actions

Agreed

I’m from Moorhead, like Cullen, and met him several times. He, his brothers, and his dad put on a summer hockey camp each year and were all the nicest of people and gave great advice. I don’t think anyone ever has anything bad to say about the guy or his family.

And yes, KYLE Rau is electrifying this year!

by Squeaker1018 on Dec 15, 2011 8:50 PM CST up reply actions

I thought the Cake Eaters were from Edina?

;-P

Being from Minnesota, it would be rude to put something clever here.

by redheadzeb on Dec 16, 2011 10:43 AM CST up reply actions

apparently they have sooo much cake it has spilled over into surrounding cities

2010-2011 Minnesota Wild Fantasy League Champion
President/CEO of the Tutu Many Slapshots fantasy hockey club

by Chris Winner on Dec 16, 2011 10:53 AM CST up reply actions

It's pretty much the whole South/West end of town.

by cgp711 on Dec 16, 2011 11:02 AM CST up reply actions

This.

Editor:Hockey Wilderness Editor:In Lax We Trust Now with more Twitterness: ReynoldsSBN

Master of unsustainable passive regression.

by BReynolds on Dec 16, 2011 11:16 AM CST up reply actions

Edina was old school cake eaters

EP are the newer cake eaters. Both my parents grew up in Edina – so I am second generation cake eater. (And as soon as I could, I moved to the opposite corner of the metro area. I didn’t want to be forced to live in a beige house and drive a black Land Rover!)

by minnesotagirl71 on Dec 16, 2011 12:04 PM CST up reply actions

Actually, the term Cake Eater comes from Duluth

In order to get Duluth Central High School athletic teams, all the schools in Duluth bought up Betty Crocker foods (the Box Tops for Education at their time) and turned them all into Duluth Central so the school could use the school funding to get football pads. Duluth East was able to raise the most box tops, and thus earned the name Cake Eaters.

You know you're a Wild fan if Spam Whoopie Gerald-buns comes up in conversation
Regressing all the way back to high school hockey.

by JDesthubert on Dec 16, 2011 1:16 PM CST up reply actions