The State of Hockey... What does it mean? Where does it come from? It';s hardly
 a secret that Minnesota has long been a hockey Mecca. The first hockey teams
in Minnesota were formed a couple of decades before Henry Ford';s Model-T
changed the world. The University of Minnesota first organized a hockey team in
 1895 and though unsanctioned by the University, played a game against a team
from Winnipeg on February 19, 1895. Around the turn of the century, indoor
games begun to pop up around Minnesota in increasing frequency. Slowly and
deliberately, the landscape of Minnesota hockey began to take shape and before
we knew it, Minnesota became the beating heart of USA Hockey with the game
flourishing at all levels.Gilles Meloche #27 of the Minnesota North Stars
(Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

When the North Stars left Minnesota in 1993, a void was left in the Minnesota
hockey landscape. Luckily, the National Hockey League didn';t take long to
realize this and they awarded Minnesota an expansion NHL franchise in 1997.
This franchise wanted to capture the spirit of Minnesota';s hockey passion to
help heighten the existing excitement of the NHL returning to Minnesota. From
this, the "State of Hockey" was born, but what started as a marketing scheme
quickly became so much more.Real Passion in the State of Hockey

You';d be hard pressed to find an area of the country that displays its passion
 for hockey on such a broad platform like Minnesota does. That starts with
youth hockey, from mini-mites to high school and every level in between. There
is a reason Minnesota has been called the 11th province of Canada and while
we';re content in Minnesota to remain south of the border and proudly represent
 USA Hockey, it speaks to the level of passion the north land truly has for
hockey.

In 2014, Minnesota again ranked first in the nation in terms of number of
players registered at USA Hockey with over 54,000. That number becomes even
more impressive upon the realization that high school hockey players are
technically not affiliated with USA Hockey so that number could be a few
thousand higher even. The number two state is Michigan with slightly more than
50,000. The staggering statistic here is that Minnesota has considerably more
hockey participation despite Michigan having nearly double the population. This
 video for the 2014 Olympics was shot in Minnesota and shows the type of
attitude displayed towards the game not found anywhere else in the country.

Speaking of passion, Minnesota';s high school hockey scene is the perfect
example of it. Each year in March, fans flock to the Xcel Energy Center for the
 state boys high school hockey tournament. The overall attendance at this
year';s "tourney"? Over 135,000 fans attended 8 sessions, a new record. It';s
worth bearing in mind, as well, that some of the small class A schools that
make it to the tournament are home to no more than 500 students and yet they
regularly draw crowds of over 10,000 for tournament games. This year';s class
AA final was witnessed by over 21,000 people, also a new record. To put these
numbers in perspective, the NHL';s Florida Panthers draw an average attendance
of little more than 11,000 per game. Just remarkable.

Minnesota is also a hotbed for college hockey, boasting 5 division I hockey
schools. This year, 4 of those schools are part of the NCAA tournament,
including number 1 overall seed, the Minnesota State University Mankato
Mavericks. Also in the tournament are St. Cloud State, the University of
Minnesota - Twin Cities and the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
Minnesota';s most recent national champion is UMD; the Bulldogs won 3-2 in
overtime of the championship game held in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center,
defeating the University of Michigan Wolverines. With 4 teams in the field this
 year, Minnesota schools make up 25% of the teams involved and all have a
legitimate chance to win it all. College hockey players continue to rise to the
 NHL ranks at an increasingly large rate and many of those players are
Minnesotans.

Professionally, Minnesota is on its second franchise and this is one thing many
 critics point out when we examine Minnesota hockey, but let';s not get ahead
of ourselves, more on those detractors later. For now let us examine the
history of professional hockey in Minnesota. In 1967, the NHL decided to expand
 for the very first time and boldlyModano acknowledges fans in Minnesota after
last game with the Dallas Stars (Image from Flickr).

double its membership. In one fell swoop, the league went from the "original 6"
 to a total of 12 teams. Among those expansion franchises was Minnesota and a
team that would become known as the North Stars. The North Stars would play 26
years in Minnesota, including two memorable runs to the Stanley Cup Finals. In
1993, the North Stars moved to Dallas after controversy surrounding ownership
and the inability to finalize a deal on a new arena for the team pushed them
out. To this day, North Stars memorabilia is still present all over the state
of hockey and many fans don the green and gold with the iconic "N" logo to Wild
 games. And, if you';re coming to Minnesota and want to fit it, just tell
everyone you see how much "Norm Green sucks" and you';ll be sure to make a few
friends right away.

It wouldn';t be long, however, before the NHL returned to Minnesota. Just 4
years after the North Stars left, the league announced that Minnesota would be
one of four cities to receive and expansion franchise along with Nashville,
Atlanta and Columbus. This new team became known as the Wild and it began play
in the 2000 season. Some were slow to come around to cheering for a new team
and still missed the North Stars while some were just elated to have hockey
back in Minnesota.

Regardless, the State of Hockey immediately validated the decision to bring pro
 hockey to the area again with staggering attendance numbers and rabid
enthusiasm despite a sub par team in the early years. Minnesota quickly
garnered the 6th highest attendance numbers in the league during the inaugural
Wild season and they never slowed down. From 2000 to 2010, the Wild sold out
every single game from exhibition to regular season and playoffs, an
unprecedented run of over 400 consecutive games. In terms of average attendance
 by percentage of capacity, Minnesota ranks fourth in the league this year at
105.9% and 6th in average overall attendance. Since its inception, Minnesota
has never been in the bottom half of the league in attendance and only twice
out of the top 10, all while having only three playoff appearances the first
10 years of the franchise. Minnesota';s infatuation with hockey is clear, but
not everyone believes in the State of Hockey.Minnesota Hockey Detractors

In Minnesota, the State of Hockey moniker is revered as a symbol of our
heritage and our passion for the game. Not everyone agrees though, detractors
are quick to point out the fact that Minnesota has never won a Stanley Cup. And
 "the North Stars left, how could they possibly keep the moniker?" The North
Stars made it to two Stanley Cup finals and lost in 1981 to the budding New
York Islanders dynasty that would win four consecutive Stanley Cups, the 2nd
coming at the expense of Minnesota. The North Stars again made it to the finals
 in 1991 against Pittsburgh and won two of the first three games in that series
 but fell in six games to Mario Lemieux';s Penguins. The Minnesota Wild have
yet to make it to a Stanley Cup finals series but the franchise is still young
and if you believe in trends, Minnesota is certainly headed in the right
direction.

Citing the lack of Stanley Cup success in Minnesota however, is missing the
point. It';s not just about success on the ice, though Minnesota has plenty of
that, it';s about passion for the game through thick and thin. It';s about the
heritage and history first and foremost. Still, critics also point out that the
 North Stars left for Dallas and claim that it was due to lack of support from
the fans, so therefor, how is Minnesota still called the State of Hockey?

It';s a fair point, but let us debunk some myths about the departure of the
North Stars. While it is true that the North Stars saw attendance drop during
some lean years in the late 80';s, that was not unheard of and was not truly
the sole cause of the Stars moving to Dallas. Suffice to say there exist
various hypotheses on why the North Stars truly left. Theories range from the
ability to make more money in a bigger market like Dallas, to the owner Norm
Green';s wife apparently giving him an ultimatum to either file for divorce or
move the team following a sexual harassment allegation. In Minnesota however,
it all circles back to one prevailing ideology; "Norm Green sucks". If you want
 to learn more about the feelings in Minnesota, please Google or YouTube search
 that phrase on your own as posting a video in the article might be frowned
upon given the amount of vulgarity that is found in those recorded moments of
emotion.

The bottom line is this: yes, no Minnesota franchise has ever won a Stanley Cup
 and yes, the North Stars did leave town. But neither one of those facts has
yet to slow the enthusiasm for hockey in Minnesota, and that is what really
matters.Unparalleled Production from State of Hockey

It would be a travesty to leave out of this article the history of producing
NHL talent in Minnesota. Producing the largest amount of American-born National
 Hockey League talent has long been part of the lore of Minnesota hockey.
Minnesota has produced nearly 60 more NHL players than the next closest state,
Massachusetts, and nearly 100 more than the third place state of Michigan. On
top of that, some of the best U.S. talent in history has come out of Minnesota,
 including Phil Housley, Neal Broten and Dave Christian. Current Minnesotan';s
in the NHL include David Backes, Zach Parise, Blake Wheeler, Nick Bjugstad,
Dustin Byfuglien, Kyle Okposo, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Justin Faulk, Brock
 Nelson, Anders Lee and more.Anders Lee, a budding super star for the
Islanders, is a Minnesota native. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

Minnesota is also an attractive place to play for developing players not from
Minnesota originally. Sydney Crosby and Jonathan Toews both spent time at
Shattuck St. Mary';s prep academy in Faribault, Minnesota. Shattuck is one of
the premier hockey development schools in all of North America and has produced
 countless NHL talents. Minnesota';s division I colleges have also been called
home by many NHL stars. Brett Hull went to the University of Minnesota Duluth
and Wisconsin native and current Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Phil Kessel went to
 the University of Minnesota. Additionally, TJ Oshie, one of the highlights of
the 2014 Sochi Olympics, is from Washington originally but moved to Minnesota
to develop his game and play high school hockey for the Warroad Warriors.

The 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team also featured 12 Minnesotans out
of a 20 man roster. Coach Herb Brooks also hailed from Minnesota.

The Numbers speak for themselves, but while impressive, numbers are not what
truly makes up the fabric Minnesota Hockey.Culture

It';s easy to throw out numbers and names of great players from Minnesota.
It';s considerably harder to capture the true essence of Minnesota and the
spirit of the game, after all we truly eat sleep and breathe hockey on a level
that borders obsession. It';s something that almost has to be lived to be
believed. To truly understand the State of Hockey, you would have to brave the
cold and attend an event like the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake
Nokomis in Minneapolis and witness the passion for the game. You would have to
immerse yourself headfirst into the emotional celebration that is Hockey Day
Minnesota. You would need to tour the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth,
Minnesota and feel the history surrounding you. To truly understand the State
of Hockey, you would have to attend the state high school hockey tournament and
 be one of over 20,000 fans going crazy for an amateur game or go to a MN Wild
hockey game and see first hand the love affair Minnesota shares with the game.

In truth, it is perhaps impossible for someone who didn';t grow up here to ever
 truly understand what the State of Hockey is really all about.  It';s not
about gloating or showing off, it';s not about belittling other hockey
communities in our great country and it';s not about fame or recognition.
Simply put, it';s about passion. It';s about the feeling of waking up at dawn
for a game, or breathing in ice-cold air on a frozen pond. It';s about a
special bond; one that can';t be broken. The State of Hockey is maybe best
summed up, however, in one simple song.

Originally published in March of 2015, hockey in the great state of Minnesota
only grows stronger with each passing year.

The post Why Minnesota is Truly the State of Hockey appeared first on The
Hockey Writers.

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