We thought it would be interesting to find out which U.S. State produces the most U.S. born professional hockey players and, without too much surprise, we found that Minnesota is the birthplace of the largest number of U.S. born professional hockey players. These stats include the World Hockey Association (WHA), a professional league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. (Updated Mar 2016):
Sorted by # Players | 2010 | 2015 | 2016 | Sorted by State | 2010 | 2015 | 2016 | |
Minnesota | 200 | 233 | 240 | Alabama | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
Massachusetts | 163 | 179 | 187 | Alaska | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
Michigan | 118 | 148 | 154 | Arizona | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
New York | 82 | 102 | 107 | Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Illinois | 42 | 52 | 58 | California | 24 | 36 | 38 | |
California | 24 | 36 | 38 | Colorado | 7 | 10 | 11 | |
Pennsylvania | 19 | 31 | 33 | Connecticut | 22 | 29 | 30 | |
Wisconsin | 25 | 29 | 31 | Delaware | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Connecticut | 22 | 29 | 30 | District of Columbia | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
Ohio | 20 | 22 | 22 | Florida | 3 | 7 | 9 | |
Rhode Island | 18 | 18 | 19 | Georgia | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
Missouri | 7 | 14 | 15 | Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
New Jersey | 8 | 13 | 14 | Idaho | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
Alaska | 11 | 12 | 13 | Illinois | 42 | 52 | 58 | |
North Dakota | 13 | 13 | 13 | Indiana | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
Washington | 9 | 11 | 12 | Iowa | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Colorado | 7 | 10 | 11 | Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
New Hampshire | 7 | 10 | 11 | Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Florida | 3 | 7 | 9 | Louisiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Indiana | 7 | 8 | 9 | Maine | 5 | 6 | 6 | |
Texas | 2 | 8 | 8 | Maryland | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
Maine | 5 | 6 | 6 | Massachusetts | 163 | 179 | 187 | |
Oklahoma | 3 | 5 | 5 | Michigan | 118 | 148 | 154 | |
Oregon | 5 | 5 | 5 | Minnesota | 200 | 233 | 240 | |
Maryland | 3 | 4 | 4 | Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Utah | 2 | 4 | 4 | Missouri | 7 | 14 | 15 | |
Virginia | 4 | 4 | 4 | Montana | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Alabama | 2 | 2 | 3 | Nebraska | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
District of Columbia | 2 | 3 | 3 | Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Georgia | 3 | 3 | 3 | New Hampshire | 7 | 10 | 11 | |
Arizona | 1 | 2 | 2 | New Jersey | 8 | 13 | 14 | |
Idaho | 2 | 2 | 2 | New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Nebraska | 2 | 2 | 2 | New York | 82 | 102 | 107 | |
North Carolina | 1 | 2 | 2 | North Carolina | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
Vermont | 2 | 2 | 2 | North Dakota | 13 | 13 | 13 | |
Delaware | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ohio | 20 | 22 | 22 | |
Iowa | 1 | 1 | 1 | Oklahoma | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
Montana | 0 | 1 | 1 | Oregon | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
South Carolina | 0 | 1 | 1 | Pennsylvania | 19 | 31 | 33 | |
Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rhode Island | 18 | 18 | 19 | |
Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | South Carolina | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Louisiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | Texas | 2 | 8 | 8 | |
Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | Utah | 2 | 4 | 4 | |
Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vermont | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | Virginia | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 | Washington | 9 | 11 | 12 | |
Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0 | West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wisconsin | 25 | 29 | 31 | |
Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 |
One of the largest reasons that Minnesota is able to produce such a large number of professional hockey players is partially because Minnesota kids can begin playing hockey – at a very young age – on the frozen lakes, ponds, rivers and creeks that dot the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. This commonly referred to as “Pond Hockey”, and it’s not unusual to have kids playing pond hockey by the time they’re age 5 or 6.
Another crucial element in the development of young hockey players is the predominance of organized youth hockey leagues at the community level. This goes a long way in helping kids make the transition from pond hockey into a more organized hockey league so that they continue to develop their skills and interests.
Data Sources: hockey-reference.com, census.gov
Thanks Minnesota Funfacts! Finally I found a clear concise table of US born NHL players by birthplace. Totals current and past. I saw another site (Quant Hockey I believe) which listed Massachusetts at 187 total all-time players. Can you doublecheck this?
Us hockey players are a very tribal group.
Sincerely
Bruinforlife
Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan, NY rock on!!!!
Thank you Mike. We have updated these numbers for 2016.