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None of you have a clue. Minnesota is King for sure, but Michigan is #2. Lets look at hockey as a whole, AA youth hockey, go through rankings and it's littered with Michigan teams at the top. AAA, Honeybaked, Little Ceasars, Belle Tire, Compuware...wether U18, U16, U14, Michigan teams are at the top, right there with Shattuck (which is kids from all over anyway). The big difference is High School. Michigan does not seperate AAA seasons with HS thus HS hockey in Michigan is pretty much Cathoilic League, UP, and some public schools, varying year to year. Regardless, the better players play AAA.
Yea, this guy knows what's up.
This is an interesting discussion as it hits home with me. I grew up playing AAA hockey in Michigan (Honeybaked, mostly), and AAA is where the best players played. I played against/with quite a few players that are now in the NHL (Ryan Kesler being one of the best ones in my age group). I don't say this to brag, but rather just to illustrate the point that MI has produced some great players. I also played against many teams from Minnesota in my youth and in high school (mostly Shattuck), and I found the level of play quite comparable to the best in Michigan.
I don't know if I would really rank one over the other since they're both really good and have very strong hockey culture. I think it's a bit more ingrained in overall culture in Minnesota, but the best players from either region are some of the best in the world. And Detroit has a ton of hockey...few regions can tout the sheer number of hockey rinks (almost every single suburb has at least one arena).
I think one difference that I always found interesting was that the way hockey was run in Minnesota felt more like Canada. Teams and rinks were more publicly-run, rather than private entities that you get in Michigan.
At the high school level, it becomes very difficult to compare the two states. The best players in Michigan tend to either stick to AAA travel or go off to player junior hockey in the USHL/NAHL. The best teams in this age group in Minnesota are in the high schools themselves (or prep schools, such as Shattuck).
Michigan high school hockey is still very strong, but generally the best players don't play for their schools (although there are certainly exceptions and high school hockey is still very, very good).
I don't think you can go wrong with either state, though. Both love hockey and have produced a ton of great players.
I would also throw MA in there with these two states.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o
MN wins in the hockey department, its not really a contest.
This is an interesting thread. I am glad that a couple of more knowledgeable people resurrected it and gave some better insight into the differences in high school hockey in each state. After analyzing the data, I'm voting Minnesota #1 and Michigan #2. I think we can all agree that Massachusetts is the worst and they only produce so many hockey players because all the wealthy parents can afford hockey gear.
I live in Lansing, MI but grew up playing hockey in Minnesota. I used to love playing on outdoor rinks, and I often took it for granted how many of them there were--there's at least one in every town. Don't get me wrong, there's a small, yet dedicated community of hockey players in Lansing...not to mention three indoor arenas in the area. But there's no outdoor rink in the Lansing area. Not one.
I stumbled across this forum because I find statistics fascinating, and I thought I'd post this relevant map of indoor arenas per capita, by state. Unfortunately, I don't think data on outdoor rinks is available, but that would be interesting, too.
What someone said earlier about MN arenas being mostly municipally owned, that's absolutely true. I only played at one non-city rink growing up, and it was a massive, Schwan Super Rink (8 sheets of ice and apparently the largest complex in the world). It's essentially the Mall of America of hockey. Some privately owned mini-rinks are starting to pop up across the Twin Cities, made specifically for 3-on-3 hockey. But as far as privately owned/operated rinks go, that's about all I'm aware of.
I stumbled across this forum because I find statistics fascinating, and I thought I'd post this relevant map of indoor arenas per capita, by state. Unfortunately, I don't think data on outdoor rinks is available, but that would be interesting, too.
If outdoor rinks were included, the number would easily be into the thousands for hockey rinks in Minnesota. Basically every good-sized neighborhood park (and definitely major municipal park) in the state maintains an outdoor rink in the winter. You'll even see them in tiny half-block parks in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
At the high school level, it becomes very difficult to compare the two states. The best players in Michigan tend to either stick to AAA travel or go off to player junior hockey in the USHL/NAHL. The best teams in this age group in Minnesota are in the high schools themselves (or prep schools, such as Shattuck).
Do you honestly think the best hockey players in MN stick with their high school teams? The best kids have been and are leaving for AAA teams or leagues like the WHL or the USHL. Right now there are 127 MN hockey players committed to Men’s Division I hockey (2015 and beyond); 42 are from the USHL, 23 NAHL, 10 BCHL, 4 USNTDP, 2 AJHL, 2 NAPHL, 1 SJHL, 1 T1EHL, 4 from Shattuck, and 38 from the MSHSL (Minnesota State High School League).
Last edited by YIMBY; 07-28-2015 at 09:07 PM..
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