Canadians are wailing about the flow of hockey talent and hockey money
from the frozen north to south of the border. And given the United
States’ victory over Canada in the 1996 World Cup, their concern over
hockey superiority on the North American continent may be justified.
But “south of the border” is having its own growing pains and
uncertainties to deal with. No longer is Minnesota the incubator of
hockey talent in the United States, rosters of the recent US National
Junior Team and the US Olympic Team display talent from all over the
country. Which state or region of the country is the source of US hockey
talent? The chart below, taken from the January 1998 issue of American
Hockey Magazine, may hold some answers:
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State US National Jr. US Olympic
Massachusetts 3 5
New York 8 2
Connecticut 2 0
Maine 1 0
Rhode Island 0 2
Vermont 0 1
NEW ENGLAND 14 10
Michigan 3 5
Wisconsin 0 1
Minnesota 3 1
Illinois 1 1
Ohio 1 0
MIDWEST 7 8
OTHER* 6 5
* New Jersey, Alaska, California, Utah, Georgia, Missouri, Texas,
Pennsylvania, and Canada (birthplace of two Olympians).
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Clearly, the regional winner is New England, and the top producing state
is New York. Whether this shift is permanent or temporary, I cannot say,
but it is very clear and certain. In addition, the reason why it has
happened may signal future dominance of the sport by the United States
over Canada.
The answer to why this shift in hockey production from upper Midwest
(e.g. Minnesota) to western New England (e.g. New York, Massachusetts)
has happened is simple -- indoor ice hockey rinks. No longer do the
states that suffer through northern climates have any kind of natural
advantage for playing hockey. Most hockey players now learn their sport
in arenas, ice centers, and ice complexes as opposed to ponds, rinks,
or other freezing cold, exposed, and outside ice surfaces. Indoor ice
hockey rinks are expensive, and it is a testimony to the wealth of youth
hockey supporters, parents, and communities in western New England that
they have wrestled dominance of the sport away from states more
naturally suited to the production of ice.
But if a regional shift can take place in the United States, why not a
regional shift in North America? Thoughts of Canada’s game being someone
else’s may be too shocking for some, but a decade or two ago the thought
that the United States would be on equal footing with the once
all-powerful Russians was also shocking if not humorous.
Answers to how Minnesota can reclaim its hockey-player dominance are not
so easy. Maybe Minnesota’s dominance never existed and was a falsehood
people just now are recognizing. For instance, the University of
Minnesota has had only one coach who won an NCAA title -- the legendary
Herb Brooks. No one else was able to do it (with or without an
all-Minnesota team). Currently the state is spending millions of “Mighty
Ducks” dollars to put ice hockey rinks in every corner and every hamlet
of the state. If it works, only time will tell. And if it works, it may
be the girls showing improved results before the boys do.
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