Canadians...can I get an honest, unbias hockey power ranking for U.S. states?

Question

Can't ask Minnesota, cuz they'll say Minnesota. Can't ask The Great Lake State, cuz we'll say The Great Lake State. Where I live (on Lake St. Clair, half hour north of Detroit) hockey is the biggest sport. It helps growing up on the lake. I am under the impression that Michigan is the biggest hockey state. Minnesota has been known to pump a lot of players into the league, but there's only a marginal difference in the number that they put in the league and Michigan does. The same goes for Massachusetts and New York. Personally, I think Michigan has higher-caliber talent in the league (Modano, Weight, Rolston, Rafalski, Hatchers...etc.) whereas I can only name a few very talented Minnesotans like Zach Parise, but a larger number of average talent than Mich.

Take into account prep, junior, minor, college, and pro hockey, as well as the fans. Please consider MI's economy (ticket sales) too.

My rankings:

1st tier:

Mich

Minn

Mass

NY

2nd tier:

CT

IL

WI

Maine

ND

CO

Answer 1

Being from Erie, PA (Mercyhurst College) with Pennsylvania having no place on this list, I agree with you for the most part. The fact that Michigan has a couple OHL teams and a truckload of competitive D-1 Schools, I'd say they are at the top. Minnesota isnt far behind, but when you weigh U. Mich against the Gophers, it will lean towards the Maize and Blue every time... Red Wings v. Wild, obvious and I HATE the wings. I'm not so sure about Connecticut and Illinois being second tier. I would lump them along with Pennsylvania before I'd rank them near wisconsin or Colorado

Answer 2

i'll try to find Zam's answer...

it addresses all of this.

it basically said that Michigan was. not just quantity, but quality also (arguably). no disrespect to Minn. but Michigan had the most leagues at the most levels w/ the most participation.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

i THINK this was the question. very good answer. even if you don't agree.

Answer 3

1st teir

1st. Minnesota- You named players, but Minnesota has good ones too, and remember, detroit has a much bigger population

2. Michigan

3.  Mass.

4. NY

2teir

1.  CT

2.  WIS

3.  VT

4. CO

5.  RI

6.  ND

7.  Maine

Answer 4

I'd have to say Minnesota.  They lost the North Stars to Dallas, and the are didn't miss a beat; still strong support for the game at the high school (huge from what I've heard) and US college level.  When I was there for work...not one person I talked to mentioned anything about basketball.  I was at a bar for a liquid dinner, and of the 10 tv's, 9 were showing hockey, and one tv was showing the basketball team.  The Wild have sold out every game period.  I saw that they had some outdoor high school hockey games last winter up in the northern part of the state.

Michigan is just shaded out; strong support for US college hockey, they do have 2 OHL teams, and the Red Wings are...well, enough said.  Hard to say because clearly the state is having a rough go of it because of the economy.  My "bar" test showed equal hockey and basketball tv distribution during a visit 18 months ago.  

As noted, the Bruins don't draw that well (they could be hurt by the success of the other major sports), but the US college 'Beanpot' tournament is a huge regional event.  I would have to rank the New England region third (paired with New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut).  The college game is quite popular as is the prep/high schools, but the Bruins fan base isn't there (again, this could be because of a slumping economy).  Went to a Bruins game last year; at least half the crowd were Leafs fans.

Answer 5

As a Canadian I have to ask, why does it matter?

Enjoy what you have and don't worry about the others. What's with the need to be labelled number one?

Answer 6

I'm a Michigander so I can't unbiasedly comment, but I would have to agree with your assessment for the most part.  Massachusettes might bump to a 2nd-tier for me because the Bruins are not the best attendance team plus the Boston area just has so much other c**p going on in the sporting world.  Connecticut could/should be a 1st teir had the Whale not been harpooned and dragged to Carolina.  WTB new Hartford franchise.

Answer 7

You might find this article helpful in your analyse:

http://www.hockeywidgets.com/newblog/200...

Scroll down, and there is a nice pie chart of all the birthplaces of NHL players by state.

Looking at the growth of hockey in the states (a couple decades ago compared to now) would be interesting and relevant, aussi.

Answer 8

As a hoser through and through I've got to agree with cme (he looks like a guy who lives in my garden). Canadians really don't give a rat's @55 about hockey power rankings in the USA.

I would bet you that most Canadians could name 6 Swedish Elite League teams before they could do the same with US College team names.

That is unless the teams had the same names as their football or basketball teams.