Minnesotans are justifiably proud of their accomplishments in the hockey world. They have every reason to be. They're downright hockey-mad. But they aren't the only state that is so smitten with the sport we all love. There's an ongoing argument about which state produces the most and/or best hockey players. The three states that have reasonable claims to that bragging right are Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts. The InterWeb is a funny place. It brings out all sorts of chest-thumpers that not only crow about their particular issue but almost always seem to have to trash-talk somebody else while doing so.
I'm no stranger to blustering and bloviating as I've certainly done my share in various Internet locales. Several years ago there was a rash of Minnesota faithful on USCHO's fan boards popping their jersey's while crapping on everyone else about how great their state was: par for the course ya know? Like I said, they have plenty of justification for pride. They are equally as insane about high school hockey as Texans are about high school football. While the rest of the kids in the U.S. play Midget hockey for development, Minnesotans rely on High School for that. They even have a couple of high schools that import players from all over the country. The annual high school state tournament produces more erections in Minnesota hockey fandom than viagra. They have 5 universities playing Division 1 hockey. The 1980 Miracle on Ice team had loads of Minnesotans on it. Minnesota was deeply involved in hockey development in this country when there were less than 10,000 white people in Alaska. They have tradition and halls of fame and an endless parade of great names to hang their hats on. Sweet. Good for them.
In any case, back then in order to verify the facts for myself I did a little counting and cyphering and figured out that Alaska actually produced more Division 1 players as a percentage of hockey playing population than did Minnesota. Man oh man did that ever elicit a bunch of responses; most of which decried my use of the "percentage of population" metric. Nobody seemed to take exception to my methodology or results but instead just wanted to focus on the numbers without any examination (if I remember correctly it was something like 224 - 28). So ... lets do that analysis again.
There are 205 Minnesotans playing Division 1 hockey this season. There are 30 Alaskans playing D1. Here's a bit of how they breakdown and significant numbers. The ECAC has 28 Minnesotans and 2 Alaskans. Clarkson is the only member of that league without either a Minnesotan or Alaskan on the roster. Union has no Minnesotans while Dartmouth has the most with 6. The CCHA has 24 Minnesotans on their rosters while Alaska has 10. UAF has 5 Alaskans. Michigan and Michigan State have no Minnesotans and no Alaskans. UNO has 7 Minnesotans and 2 Alaskans. Hockey East has 9 Minnesotans and 1 Alaskan. College Hockey America has 16 Minnesotans and 1 Alaskan with Bemidji St. having 10 of that 16. Atlantic Hockey has 30 Minnesotans and 4 Alaskans. Interestingly, Holy Cross doesn't have a single Minnesota kid. AFA has 10 from Minnesota and 2 from Alaska. The WCHA has 98 Minnesotans on their rosters with 12 Alaskans. 205 to 30. Slam dunk! Minnesota produces WAY more Division 1 players than Alaska (82 of the 205 play D1 in Minnesota). Case closed? Nah.
Let's look at why eh? The population of Minnesota is approximately 5.2 million. The population of Alaska is about (and I'm rounding up slightly here) 670,000 people. So ... Minnesota is 7.76 times more populated than Alaska. If you just take those numbers then you'll find that Minnesota produces 6.83 times more Division 1 players than Alaska from a population that is 7.76 times larger. I tend to think that means they are underperforming.
But that's not really a fair comparison. The hockey playing populations in both states is substantially less than their total populations. In Alaska there are four primary areas where kids have a chance to play organized hockey; Anchorage, The Mat-Su Valley, The Kenai Peninsula and Fairbanks. The combined population of those 4 areas is about 400,000 people (probably should be a fair bit lower but let's go with a high estimate eh?). Minnesota is a bit harder for me to rationalize as to total hockey playing potential population so I'll turn to USA Hockey registrations to equalize the numbers. In Minnesota there were just at 50,000 USA registrations (49,976 to be exact). In Alaska there were 8,310. Thats just a little over 6 times more for Minnesota. So if we assume that the hockey playing potenial population in Minnesota is around 3 million; would that seem fair (6 times more would be 2.4 million)? It seems to me. I'd tend to think it's higher than 2.4 million and putting it at 3 means 3/5th of the state is in the hockey playing potential population?
So a little bit of math and ... 1 kid per 13,333 in Alaska plays Division 1 hockey. In Minnesota 1 kid per 14,634 plays Division 1 hockey. Hmm? Do the math yourself; fudge the Minnesota hockey playing potential population numbers higher or lower as you think appropriate. I think I'm being gracious to assume that their hockey playing potential population is 3/5ths of the total population. I believe it to be even higher. After all, doesn't everyone in Minnesota live, eat and breath hockey? According to the chest-thumping jersey-poppers they do. And if that's truly the case then certainly more than 3/5ths of the state are hockey enthused, aren't they? If it is as "they" say then the numbers of Division 1 players that Minnesota produces is kinda disappointing isn't it? Shouldn't it be up around 250 or 275?
Looks to me that Alaska has a higher per capita production of D1 players than Minnesota. Go ahead and call yourselves the "State of Hockey" but you don't have anything on Alaska and you sure don't have a clear cut case to the name when compared with Michigan and Massachusetts. And oh yeah ... don't look now but California, Texas and Colorado are up and coming "States of Hockey". So please ... really; stop with all the provincial crowing about how great you are. Yes you have much of which you can be proud. Relax and be at peace with that. Enjoy your "hockey factory" while we toil to produce players in our "boutique". I'm not saying here that it's Ford vs. Rolls Royce but that comparison does have a nice cachet. Anyhow, the rest of us would really like a break from the all bullshit crowing. And oh yeah, there's this place called Canada attached to your northern border that puts you to shame (do British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario have an ongoing pissing contest aboot who is better?).
I'm no stranger to blustering and bloviating as I've certainly done my share in various Internet locales. Several years ago there was a rash of Minnesota faithful on USCHO's fan boards popping their jersey's while crapping on everyone else about how great their state was: par for the course ya know? Like I said, they have plenty of justification for pride. They are equally as insane about high school hockey as Texans are about high school football. While the rest of the kids in the U.S. play Midget hockey for development, Minnesotans rely on High School for that. They even have a couple of high schools that import players from all over the country. The annual high school state tournament produces more erections in Minnesota hockey fandom than viagra. They have 5 universities playing Division 1 hockey. The 1980 Miracle on Ice team had loads of Minnesotans on it. Minnesota was deeply involved in hockey development in this country when there were less than 10,000 white people in Alaska. They have tradition and halls of fame and an endless parade of great names to hang their hats on. Sweet. Good for them.
In any case, back then in order to verify the facts for myself I did a little counting and cyphering and figured out that Alaska actually produced more Division 1 players as a percentage of hockey playing population than did Minnesota. Man oh man did that ever elicit a bunch of responses; most of which decried my use of the "percentage of population" metric. Nobody seemed to take exception to my methodology or results but instead just wanted to focus on the numbers without any examination (if I remember correctly it was something like 224 - 28). So ... lets do that analysis again.
There are 205 Minnesotans playing Division 1 hockey this season. There are 30 Alaskans playing D1. Here's a bit of how they breakdown and significant numbers. The ECAC has 28 Minnesotans and 2 Alaskans. Clarkson is the only member of that league without either a Minnesotan or Alaskan on the roster. Union has no Minnesotans while Dartmouth has the most with 6. The CCHA has 24 Minnesotans on their rosters while Alaska has 10. UAF has 5 Alaskans. Michigan and Michigan State have no Minnesotans and no Alaskans. UNO has 7 Minnesotans and 2 Alaskans. Hockey East has 9 Minnesotans and 1 Alaskan. College Hockey America has 16 Minnesotans and 1 Alaskan with Bemidji St. having 10 of that 16. Atlantic Hockey has 30 Minnesotans and 4 Alaskans. Interestingly, Holy Cross doesn't have a single Minnesota kid. AFA has 10 from Minnesota and 2 from Alaska. The WCHA has 98 Minnesotans on their rosters with 12 Alaskans. 205 to 30. Slam dunk! Minnesota produces WAY more Division 1 players than Alaska (82 of the 205 play D1 in Minnesota). Case closed? Nah.
Let's look at why eh? The population of Minnesota is approximately 5.2 million. The population of Alaska is about (and I'm rounding up slightly here) 670,000 people. So ... Minnesota is 7.76 times more populated than Alaska. If you just take those numbers then you'll find that Minnesota produces 6.83 times more Division 1 players than Alaska from a population that is 7.76 times larger. I tend to think that means they are underperforming.
But that's not really a fair comparison. The hockey playing populations in both states is substantially less than their total populations. In Alaska there are four primary areas where kids have a chance to play organized hockey; Anchorage, The Mat-Su Valley, The Kenai Peninsula and Fairbanks. The combined population of those 4 areas is about 400,000 people (probably should be a fair bit lower but let's go with a high estimate eh?). Minnesota is a bit harder for me to rationalize as to total hockey playing potential population so I'll turn to USA Hockey registrations to equalize the numbers. In Minnesota there were just at 50,000 USA registrations (49,976 to be exact). In Alaska there were 8,310. Thats just a little over 6 times more for Minnesota. So if we assume that the hockey playing potenial population in Minnesota is around 3 million; would that seem fair (6 times more would be 2.4 million)? It seems to me. I'd tend to think it's higher than 2.4 million and putting it at 3 means 3/5th of the state is in the hockey playing potential population?
So a little bit of math and ... 1 kid per 13,333 in Alaska plays Division 1 hockey. In Minnesota 1 kid per 14,634 plays Division 1 hockey. Hmm? Do the math yourself; fudge the Minnesota hockey playing potential population numbers higher or lower as you think appropriate. I think I'm being gracious to assume that their hockey playing potential population is 3/5ths of the total population. I believe it to be even higher. After all, doesn't everyone in Minnesota live, eat and breath hockey? According to the chest-thumping jersey-poppers they do. And if that's truly the case then certainly more than 3/5ths of the state are hockey enthused, aren't they? If it is as "they" say then the numbers of Division 1 players that Minnesota produces is kinda disappointing isn't it? Shouldn't it be up around 250 or 275?
Looks to me that Alaska has a higher per capita production of D1 players than Minnesota. Go ahead and call yourselves the "State of Hockey" but you don't have anything on Alaska and you sure don't have a clear cut case to the name when compared with Michigan and Massachusetts. And oh yeah ... don't look now but California, Texas and Colorado are up and coming "States of Hockey". So please ... really; stop with all the provincial crowing about how great you are. Yes you have much of which you can be proud. Relax and be at peace with that. Enjoy your "hockey factory" while we toil to produce players in our "boutique". I'm not saying here that it's Ford vs. Rolls Royce but that comparison does have a nice cachet. Anyhow, the rest of us would really like a break from the all bullshit crowing. And oh yeah, there's this place called Canada attached to your northern border that puts you to shame (do British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario have an ongoing pissing contest aboot who is better?).
65 comments:
Compared to Alaska how many Minnesotans play in the NHL?
ForeForFour:
I dunno. I didn't count them and I don't follow that shitty league. How many Canadians are there as compared to Minnesotans? How many Michiganders?How many Masschusetters? The post is about how many play Division 1 hockey. If that isn't enough evidence for Minnesotans to moderate their chest-thumping directed at Alaskans then I can't help you.
What's your pro hockey team called again?
Other states have people that love hockey, but the importance of the sport in Minnesota state wide is something that no other state can match. You can't really judge it unless you've lived there an absorbed the culture. I've lived in AK and MN, and alaksans as a whole do not care about hockey that near as much. The D1 numbers are impressive for AK. However to look at the entire culture, AK has nothing on Minnesota. Michigan and Mass, I have not lived in but know other Minnesotans who have and I know those states have some hockey mad people, but they are much more difficult to find. The way the game is supported at all levels puts Minnesota at the top and writers/reports for places like ESPN and SI know this.
What other state would a kid come from and say making it to the state tournament was better than winning a D1 national title?
Donald, bottom line is you have no right to judge until you step outside your igloo. Please STFU.
PS - Your begging for funds to go to Minneapolis completely discredits your blog. LOL! Get a job.
1/3 of the 30 alaskans play for a shitty UA(F) team :S They shouldn't count :D
edit- mean 1/6 for 5/30 shouldn't count :D
Then I guess the 82 players on 5 shitty Minnesota teams shouldn't count either.
abhm:
STFU?
Are you fucking kidding me? Let's count how many times I complimented Minnesota on their hockey culture ... ok I'm tired of counting.
At least 10 times in the post I complimented Minnesota. I took some pot shots at crowing internet jersey popping asses. And then I broke down the reality of the situation in a pretty fair manner.
Did I say anywhere that Minnesota sucked for hockey? No. Did I give it most (if not all) the credit it deserves? Yes.
So you think more than 3/5th of the state is hockey mad? I guess that means they are really underperforming to a much higher degree than I thought.
Yet you come onto my blog and tell me to shut the fuck up? You're hilarious and a perfect example of the sort of chest-thumping idiocy of some Minnesota promoters that I expressed in the post. Thanks for showing up and giving all my readers such a fine example. I can say I didn't expect as much ...
And if you can explain how someone who devotes their personal time to a blog like this is somehow less than credible because they solicit funds to further the coverage for his readers then I'll quit the internet forever. I guess websites with advertising or signup fees would have no credibility by your standards? And by that measure anyone who makes money by expressing what they think would likewise be less than credible? What sort of bassackward Fargo-logic is that?
Tell ya what. Go start a blog called "MiNiSodARULEStheHoCkEYWoRLD" and do some data collection and cyphering of your own then come back here and I'll post a link. It takes 5 minutes to start a blog ... Until you do that ... um ... you can shut the fuck up.
That work for you?
Listen, i love Alaska, goregous wilderness, great people, the last frontier for godsakes. But you my friend are a complete tool. You may have facts that back up your absurd ideas but the fact of the matter is Minnesota, Mass and Michigan are the lifeblood of USA Hockey. Second, lets look at the quality of players AK has produced or where they go to school...12 of the 30 play for home state teams...compared to 24 minnesotans playing for the UofM alone. Us minnesotans are proud of our hockey history and take pride in having great fans at all levels of hockey. So...your dumb.
Regarding the "pay me so I can afford to go" Paypal shenanigans:
Do you collect a welfare check also?
Most Americans (well, that is debatable in your case) actually save their OWN money for a trip someplace. See, they save, then they can AFFORD to go. Catching on yet? You practice "welfare via cyberworld". Congrats on your new concept. And yes, it is new because mosst internet places that have signup fees are businesses of some sort, not people running their own blogs begging for cash to go to the cushy X.
Yup, I actually BOUGHT my tickets today, did you? Oh...nevermind then.
You're Right! Alaska is the State of Hockey. We should have a parade!
When you're on the top everyone else looking up will always be jealous. Now that we've covered your problem let's move on. Go ahead, throw out any fact out there you want, it will never change the passion that the state of MN has for hockey. You will never understand until you've lived here. Not just been here, but lived here. Oh and by the way, the view is great from the top.
Also, please don't throw Canada in this, they are a separate country, no states there. Minnesota has a lot of respect for Canada and vice versa. To say Michigan and Mass have an equal right to the title you question is absurd. Michigan and Mass produce top quality hockey players. But what are we talking about? Are we talking about stats and what states produce great players? Minnesota certainly does that. But the title "State of Hockey" has so much more to do with the complete picture, the culture. When you walk into a cafe at 7 AM in small towns, what are people talking about? It's the culture that makes Minnesota the "State of Hockey". This is something you can not understand. It's something you have no right to talk about until you have lived there for atleast 1 year.
I take back my STFU statement, but please stop being so ridiculous as to compare Mich and Mass to Minnesota. Michigan and Mass., if you took polls would most certainly express greater interest in basketball and probably football if you look at it statewide. I mean, the Red Wings didn't sell out some of their playoff games. The Wild have sold out every game in their existence including playoffs.
This doesn't mean I hope things stay like that. If Texas had a state HS hockey tournament and sold out the American Airlines arena I think that would be wonderful. But I just don't see that ever happening.
I nominate Nunavut as the Province of Hockey.
Also, Donald, you can't include Mike Curry as an "Alaskan" in your calculations.
My word verification is hxndrug, which is what I would like to be high on right now. It's been a tough weekend!
Anon @ 12:15: I donated $6.66 to Donald's fund because he is my friend. You don't have to. Plus, your tickets to the FF are probably all you have to pay for, and maybe a hotel room if you're not from the Cities. Donald has to travel from Alaska, which is not cheap. Maybe we should hold the Final Five at the Sully. I bet I wouldn't see you there!
I was going to use my dividend to pay for my trip to the final five but i blew all of that money already so now i'm depending on the northern light to send me if uaa makes it.
Good to see that 'a better hockey mind' is brilliant enough to know that in Canada there are no states. So, I suppose that a 'better' mind is better than no mind at all. LOL --or do you prefer stfu? Honestly, grow up.
What you should do is take that money for the final five and come to the MN state high school hockey tourney. Because your team isn't making it.
As a matter of fact I'm watching High School Hockey on FSN as we speak. I didn't know for sure so I tried to find the other states you mentioned to see if they play high school hockey on tv. I couldn't find anything, but that doesn't mean they don't offer it. But here in MN they do offer it on TV, about 1 every other week they play a game live on TV.
What I did find is guys from Michigan wishing their state took their High School Hockey more serious, and brought up MN and how serious we take it.
They even have a "Hockey Day" in MN, where they go to Baudette (a small town on the Canadian border) and play two telivised games on a outdoor rink they make on the river.
I grew up playing basketball, but always loved hockey. These kids that play Hockey for the big progams are gods at their schools, even the guys that are ugly as hell, if they can play hockey, they get laid steady.
I didn't come here to rip on you, I enjoy the blogs, and sometimes we might "pop our jersey" too much. I actually came here to try to find out some info on Kane Lafranchise. Why didn't he play on Saturday? I had him starting on my WCHA FF hockey team and noticed he wasn't even in the lineup, what gives?
Squeaks:
I'd imagine Kane sat since the defense is so deep even with one guy (Hunt) injured. Every blueliner has contributed something positive and earned playing time. Nobody has really earned any bench time so Shyiak has been rotating who sits.
Dear overly-defensive Minnesota Rubes:
What part of "Minnesota has a lot to be proud of" and the other multiple comments and lists of Minnesota accomplishments that I made in my post didn't you get?
I already said that Minnesota ... blah blah blah is great... so your redundant CROWING about some football player who can skate thinking that the HS tourny is the "bees knees" is the pinnacle of stupidity (even though they are an invaluable example of the reason I examined the issue in the first place).
Sorry to sound defensive, I just get a little fired up about our hockey.
I guess I was trying to show a few reasons why we feel so strong about our hockey.
I get into this arguement every year about who has better hockey per capita with my Nodaker buddies. I even went through the stats to state at the time, 18 of the 20 top ranked teams had at least one MN player. You hit it on the head we our Rubes.
Thanks for the info about Kane.
It's a toss up if I'd be more proud of my potty mouth or my use of proper grammer.
Keep up the good work Donald. Your blogs are always enjoyable and informative.
minnhockey19:
A NY minute? Man. Isn't Minnesota the "State of Minutes" too? Shit. NY > MN
Pussy? LOL.
You really showed me!
I must say when analyzing the stats truly, 40% of these Alaskan kids playing for UAA or UAF, now I'm not too impressed. I mean, Alaska has produced great players, Matt Carle, Scott Gomez, and the Dubinski kid are good.
Donald made some nice statements in the beginning, but putting Minnesota at the same level as Mass and Mich? That kind of neutralizes the early comments.
Actually Donald could watch most of the FSN HS games in Minnesota, they're on GCI cable channels 301-303 pretty much every game. I think followthepuck.com has a schedule.
Trying to explain how great the HS tourney in MN is to someone who has never lived there is like trying to explain how beautiful Turnagain Arm is to someone who's never seen mountains.
Get over all this BS about people "not understanding the greatness of Minn HS hockey". I get it spanky. I grew up in Texas where 12,000 people show up for a high school football game in a crappy town of 90,000 people. They sell-out Texas Stadium for the state HS football championships there. I get it. People are nuts for it. I said that in the post. Did you not read that part? The point of the post is VERY clearly articulated. And the crowing that has resulted completely makes my point. That's the funny thing here. Nowhere in my post did I compare HS hockey in Minnesota to HS hockey in Alaska. Can ANY of you empty-headed bimbos read?
This kid called Jason (minnesota kid living in Anchorage) posted a link to this in the worst place he possibly could have in order to prove his point. Well Jason my lad ... it backfired bud. Barely a single relevant point made by anyone from your home-state to challenge and/or refute anything I've said.
Lastly, trying to invalidate the worth of Alaska players because they play D1 hockey in Alaska is a ridiculous assertion since 40% of Minnesota players play D1 in Minnesota! LOL.
Rubes are beautiful.
Alaska: One Division 1 hockey team per 335,000 people
Minnesota: One Division 1 hockey team per 1,000,000 people
LOL
Talk about a pipsqueak reaching for anything he can. Pop. per D1 school? That's what you've got? Okay.
Nothing they said refuted you? Everything they said refuted you. You made no valid point to make MN's title seem undeserving. I mean D1 players per capita? That's it? And that is a very misleading stat. The only thing that back fired is your post on your blog today. You are sad.
hey Donald,
31 comments so far and counting.........don't take much to entertain the mnnyites.
Dan
Anon @ 9:09:
Are you really that THICK?
donald#2everyoneelse#1:
What do you suppose the answer to the question I posed here is? What did I say the answer was. I said,"go ahead and use the "state of hockey" didn't I? is that not an explicit acknowledgment? Do you know waht explicit means? How about acknowledgment, know that word?
The assertions I made were CLEARLY relevant to the D1 hockey player numbers (that means I didn't make claims about HS hockey or NHL hockey or peewee hockey). And like I said; nobody has provided a single iota of evidence or even supposition that my numbers are incorrect or otherwise inaccurate. So your attempt to credit "everyone else" is bogus. Do you know what bogus means?
Dear Minnesota High School Forum Rubes:
If you have nothing to offer other than poorly framed inarticulate half-assed insults then you're barking up the wrong tree dearies.
I can out-insult any one of you to the point that your grandmothers will start menstruating again. So don't even bother with all that.
Reread what I've said before you get your jock-sniffing panties in such a twist that you spout some other stupidity here ok? And reread the comments here as well so you don't offer up redundant BS eh?
Show me where what I've said is wrong or switch the TV on to FSN and pray there is an Eveleth/Grand Rapids matchup that you can masturbate to.
Donald,
I am from MN and I love MN hockey. However, "The State of Hockey" title is gimmicky and lame. The only thing I hate more it the stupid song the Wild made up.
However, I am trying to figure out your point of argument. You begin your post by acknowledging the hockey culture and long history in MN but then you argue that according to this year's numbers Alaska has more kids playing D1 hockey. Is your point that you would like to create an official "State of Hockey" trophy to be awarded annually to the state with the best ratio that you come up with?
I doubt that was your point. As you stated in your post, the history of hockey in Minnesota is extensive and comparing the history of of hockey in Alaska is laughable. I hope Alaska continues to improve and grow it's hockey culture, that can only benefit all of us.
Was there any other point to this post except to incite the kind of comments you've received?
People are going to defend something they believe in and you brought these comments on yourself
tag:
First thank you for the good comment. The point of the post is (maybe i didn't make it clear in the opening paragraph) was/is to counter the drone of crowing from the jersey-poppers in your state that come at us folks in Alaska first with their "You guys suck" "Both your teams suck" "Alaska is suckage" etc ...
Then when we counter with "Oh yeah ... Minnesota Sucks" ... then start in with the "State of Hockey" crappola. It's a pretty familiar pattern on the Internet that again I tried to reference in the opening paragraph. As I noted I ran these same numbers some years ago on USCHO's fan forum in response to the same sort of junk from the loudmouths (note here: I'm an admitted loudmouth).
So the main point here is to display that Alaska isn't some hockey backwater. The development programs here are serious and produce quality athletes that compete on the national scene at every level with players from any state.
Comp teams based in Anchorage regularly compete for National Championships though I'd say at the Midget level that is less true because even at that stage the best Alaskan kids go outside to the Belle Tire's and other big name Midget programs.
I did this post for my regular readers most of which have an interest in UAA hockey and/or hockey in Alaska. A link to it ended up (not my doing) on a Minnesota High School board and all those kids (and the jock sniffing adults that hang out there) showed up and gave my readers great examples of the exact sort of crowing I was talking about.
And yes ... Minnesota has 100 years of hockey history .. Alaska has maybe 40 (in terms of youth development).
Am I proud of what the people in my state do for hockey? Damn straight I am ... proud enough to not back down to bs and overdeveloped (marketing pumped up) arrogance.
If you interested in UAA Hockey or want to read some occasional commentary about WCHA happenings (with a bit of attitude, irreverence and maybe some humor) then keep coming back; that's what I try to bring to this blog.
Again ... thanks for being the one representative from your state with a reasonably conceived comment.
I'd love to challenge your 'facts' but can't seem to find where you found your 'numbers.' Could you please post your source for us to look at?
anon @ 7:49:
Pretty much every person that came and commented here did so because they have a chip on their shoulder. They saw the title of the post and probably didn't actually read the content with anything in mind except their defensiveness.
Whatever comments are made don't both me. Like I said ... I'm completely competent to dish out far better (or worse depending on perspective) than I could get.
Even though this post (and everything i write here) is intended for a specific audience (UAA fans) don't think for a second that I write anything without due consideration.
I'm not some crowing idiot. I have enough experience with this sort of thing to handle whatever comes my way quite well.
anon @ 8:10:
I counted the # of players by the birthplaces listed on the rosters at College Hockey News. Meaning I opened a tab for each roster and hand counted them.
I got the population data from whatever site popped up when I googled "population of minnesota" and "population of alaska". I explained the "rationalization" of those population numbers in the post.
I got the USA Hockey registration numbers from the USA Hockey site. The state by state breakdown of # of registrations is near the bottom of a PDF document in the "member info" section.
Our arguing aside, I would be interested to see a post on HS football in Texas. I know this is a UAA hockey blog, but I'm interested to hear about what section playoffs are like in HS football in Texas.
Thanks for posting the info to find these stats. I have two points I'd like to make.
First, You said you wanted to compare base on, and this is from your blog:
"figured out that Alaska actually produced more Division 1 players as a percentage of hockey playing population than did Minnesota."
I'm not sure why you compare it to per capita and not per registered hockey player. You give the stats for our "hockey playing percentage" yet when you figure it you use per capita. This is strange because it doesn't give you the stats for "hockey playing percentage." Using your numbers, 1 out of every 244 MN hockey players goes on to play D1. In AK 1 out of every 277 play D1.
Second, I wanted to point out the development factor, which you did in your 8:06 post. You state, "The development programs here are serious and produce quality athletes that compete on the national scene at every level with players from any state." but then you go on to say, "the best Alaskan kids go outside to the Belle Tire's and other big name Midget programs."
I guess I'm just curious that if the development model in AK is so great, why are people leaving to go elsewhere? I'm not going to do it because it's petty and would take time, but I would be curious to see where the AK players in D1 played prior to Junior to get that development? In AK or elsewhere?
Alright, all that being said, I am quite impressed by AK hockey. In fact, I think your best argument that AK produced more D1 talent should be to look again at the USA hockey numbers and subtract the 'over 20' section from the total number of registered players. Most of these are Adults that continue to play or are college players already. If you did that it would drop the AK number to MUCH better then MN. (although most adults don't register in MN because it's pointless to register for a men's league).
Either way, you are right that AK is right on par, if not better (depending on which numbers you look at) then MN in producing D1 talent. But as others have pointed out MN is more then just the numbers you look at. It's a way of live here and MN's are proud of that. I think your comments render the response they do because you attack that sense of pride.
Mr. Big:
I did attack their sense of pride. That was certainly intentional. No apologies for that given my long and storied Internet history with Minnesotans.
All you other points are well made and appropriate. Thanks for taking the time to verify and/or challenge my conclusions.
As to your question about development; I'd say that only the truly elite players leave Alaska before Juniors. Currently, those would be William Rapuzzi for Belle Tire; William Wrenn and Adam Murray for USNDT. There are also elite players from AK playing major junior in Canada. Other than that smattering of elite kids the rest tend to continue their development with local Midget programs.
RWD:
My most sincere apologies for mistakenly not including you as one of the "good" comments. I'd offer two reasons for my transgression; the first (and least important) is that it got lost amongst all the negativity and the second is that i suppose I don't think of you in the same light as other Minnesotans. Our ongoing communications (dare I say relationship?) has created a peer situation in my mind that excluded you. I hope the second reason will be viewed favorably since it elevates your "status" from my perspective with respect to the rest of the state.
I'll also note here that I saw you acting positively on my behalf at USCHO and I'll offer my thanks for that.
Keep being my friend?
So you think just because you have a better ratio of D 1 players you should be called the state of Hockey? Lets look at this one. You have 2 D 1 colleges, 1 in the WCHA and the other in the CCHA. Both of which should be playing DIII hockey. We have 5 D 1 colleges and more D II colleges than I care to count. Lets look at how many Minnesotans are in the NHL compared to your drunk Alaskans. You sir a complete idiot and should stop sniffing glue and humping the sea lions or whatever it is you do. One last one for you. How many NCAA titles have either Alaskan teams won, let alone won with ALL Minnesotans? I will answer that one for you...0 Now go back to your igloo and hump your squaw while I enjoy electricity and a brain.
RWD at 2:00PM (way up there):
Thanks for the assertion that if the Final Five were in Anchorage that I would not be there. I'm glad you know where I'd be and when. Your failure to grasp my point is what makes me respond, however.
My point was that even if the FF was in Anchorage, and I wanted to attend the tourney there, I would not create a blog and ask people to donate to a Paypal fund. What I and most other Americans would do is actually SAVE our own money for the plane trip, hotel, food, etc... and then be ablle to afford the trip if that is where we wanted to go. If it were in Denver, it would be the samme response from me...save up for the trip, thereby doing what most in attendance at the tourney have done.
See, it doesn't matter that you wouldn't see me there (that assumes you would be there also) because I, in your theory, would refuse to travel to Anchorage for the FF. What matters is that if I was hell-bent on going, I'd damn well make sure I saved my money, and not counted on other peole to send me there cuz I couldn't afford it. See the point?
By the way, if I wanted to go to the Final Five in Anchorage, I damn well could.
You sir are a Dumbass. Minnesota is the state of hockey. We have more kids playing in our youth programs, we have the Premier State High school Hockey Tournament in the Country. We have 5 Division 1 Hockey MENS teams in state, along with the countless D III Schools. Adult hockey numbers in Minnesota i bet would surpass your youth program. I also would like to know if these Alaska players go straight from High school into Division one Programs? Many Minnesotans do. SO straighten out your facts Sir, and realize that your all Jealous of this Beautiful State of Hockey, Minnesota!
N.G
Anon:
RWD is all-seeing and all-knowing.
Going to the FF is somewhat of a financial hardship for ME because I am a broke-ass student, but I get the package for myself and my husband yearly, and I don't ask for money, either. The difference between Donald and me is, Donald actually provides a service to the UAA fanbase. It's not immediately evident because he doesn't go around boasting that "SO AND SO's" dad or "WHAT'S HIS NAME" close to the program has contacted him. Most people that read RWD are drunk bums wasting time in the library before they are forced out into the street at closing time, or teenyboppers looking for naked pictures of TJ Oshie, so I wouldn't solicit money. What Donald is doing is not really that different from selling Girl Scout cookies or wrapping paper or whatever so some kids can go to a damn camp. It's your choice whether to donate or not, so I don't understand why it bothers you so much. He RARELY mentions it and wasn't really targeting the random rabid readers that come here to defend some bizarro marketing strategy, but rather the loyal readers who benefit from his work. You really have no complaint. If he had a bunch of annoying ads on his site and was receiving ad revenue as a result of your traffic, then you might have a complaint, except that you could just stop going to the site and then all would be right in the world again.
"State of Hockey" is a marketing slogan created by the Minnesota Wild. If you go to Burger King "you can have it your way". Who gives a shat?!
Well said RWD. I am one Alaskan that has donated to Donald's fund. If UAA makes it that far, I want someone who can report the games fairly, and I will be proud that I helped (in a small way) to make it happen.
I can't stand Woog, and the announcers for Duluth are idiots. (They should be red faced by some of the comments they made about UAA last weekend, but then UAA showed how ignorant they are by taking 3 of 4 points from their team).
The Anchorage Daily Snooze is a crappy paper. The USCHO never gives UAA any credit when it's due.
Donald's blog is a place where UAA fans and the parents of their players can read about the team and leave comments.
It is a valuable tool for us all, one that we take for granted. Should it go away, I'm sure we would all miss it terribly.
Thank you Donald, we do appreciate your hard work!
It don't matter because Alaska is the state of Dogsledding. WHAT'S UP NOW BITCHES?!?!
I would relinquish the title to Minnesota simply because the are all about hockey state-wide while AK has a "hockey belt". Growing up in Wrangell I never cared about hockey; we didn't have enough money to build a rink, it wasn't cold enough outside to play on a pond and we wouldn't have had enough kids to put together a team anyway.
But it's kind of funny to see all the MN crazies get all bent out of shape that you dare question their hockey superiority.
Well, I'm sure that $126 currently in the Paypal account may get him from Ak to the X via dogsled...not sure you could find a plane ticket for that price. Fools.
I'd like to buy a beer at the X and write a little piece on how good it tastes...would you please contribute to my cause?
NG (no genes?):
It seems that the genetic information that the rest of us get in order to comprehend what we've read ran down your mommy's leg 9 months before you were born. Not a single word of your childish defense was warranted since I made NONE of the claims you are defending. If there were Internet fairies they'd come to your place and tear out any access you had before slapping your daddy 50 times for imparting his seed to any woman.
You and anon@11:41 should never be allowed within a 100ft of each other since the critical mass of stupidity might be enough to make your insipid hovel of a Minneapolis suburb implode.
I'm actually stunned that the crowing is continuing. It's beautiful. It so surpasses the point of most anything I've seen on the web in the past 9 years as to make it the new standard bearer for examples of Minnesota stupidity. The Coen brothers would love this.
So I'd like to thank all the ancestry involved with procreating the two morons I've addressed above. It takes a long line of uselessly ignorant but determinedly horny dumbshits to result in that sort of ultra-stupidity.
anon@5:45:
So they sell beer to 12 year olds in Minnesota?
RWD, Suze, jjack:
Thanks for you comments. I can't find much use to continuing the fruitless exercise of responding to these idiots and it's my hope that you don't feel the need to continue. No doubt that additional boobs will show up and post the exact same redundant claptrap. I can't imagine that anyone would add anything fresh or actually relevant. So I'll be moving on at this point from this tired exercise.
Jersey-Poppers:
Keep at it if you must. I won't be responding to you any more. You're not worth the 6 minutes it takes for me to put you in your place.
Hey Donald have i am born and rasied to bleed hockey even though i don't play it. Hey Donald just a question have u every heard of Eri Johnson he is born a raised in Minnesota and was the number one draft pick overall in the NHL Draft! what person from alaska has been drafted number one? Oh yeah have u ever heard of Phil Housley one of the greatest american born hockey players born and raised in St. Paul Minnesota. And one last person Herb Brooks. Tell me what person from Alaska has ever done what Herb Brooks has done answer me that?
One more thing Donald Dunlop when u said that u guys sell out football stadiums with 12'000 people we sell out the boys state high school tournament which is held in the Xcel Engery Center every single year since i was 5 years old not tell me something about that.
Donald at 7:28 PM:
They shouldn't sell beer to people begging for money, cuz that would just feed into the fact that typical Alaskans like to drink away their money before putting said money to good use. Maybe you should save up before buying that next quart of EJ, huh?
Somebody is stilling my thunder! lol
alright.... lets put it this way... add up both of Alaskas national championships (which is 0)and they still dont equal UofMINN GOPHERS!
when i said NY minute that is a sayin you fuckin tree hugger count your national championships....kids from minnesota only like to go to WCHA schools maybe thats why the WCHA is the powerhouse of D1 hockey...when either poor excuse D1 hoceky school there in Alaska gets a national title give me a call your wife gots my number..
Ice Hockey is an NES video game developed by Nintendo and published in 1988, based on the sport ice hockey (as the name implies). In the game's 1 player and 2 player modes, there are 6 playable teams, each based on countries:
United States, Sweden, Poland, Canada, Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia.
Besides differing uniform colors, the teams are all statistically identical. Games can be played at five different speeds, and period length can be 7, 10 or 15 "minutes."
Each game consists of two teams in 5 on 5 matches (one on each team being a goaltender). The four players on offense and defense may be in one of three different weight classes (determined pre-game): thin players (skinny-minis), ordinary players, and stocky players (fats). Thin players are the quickest of the three and therefore most adept at face-offs, although they take weak shots and can be knocked down easily by heavier players. The stocky player is the exact opposite; he moves the slowest, but has the best shooting strength, and can bodycheck smaller players with ease. Ordinary players are a statistical balance between the other two.
Before the face-off at the beginning of the match, the four players on each team take on a diamond formation, with one member of each team taking one spot. At this time the face-off formation can be altered by pressing the d-pad. After the face-off, the game begins. Depending on the period time, each period lasts 7, 10, or 15 minutes with an accelerated clock; at the end of the game, the team with the highest score wins. In the case of a tie, penalty shots are taken, and if there is a tie after that, one period of overtime is played without goalkeepers. This sequence is repeated until a clear winner emerges.
On December 2, 2006, the game was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan. It was then re-released in North America on December 12, and in Europe, Australia and New Zealand on December 29, 2006.
Send down the alaska high school state champs to play the minnesota state champs and watch them get killed.
GOLDEN GOPHERS HOCKEY(100% MN natives) WILL KILL ANY ALASKAN D-1 TEAM.
Also let me know when you guys get a NHL team.
No one will take STATE OF HOCKEY away from us. Where is the US hall of Fame of hockey? Oh ya EVELETH, MINNESOTA.
I am a fan of Boston College hockey. But I am a born and raised Minnesotan. And DD i'll try to be respectful of your views. But I think that Minnesota deserves the title. And even if you think Alaska does have more players per capita or however you put it, Minnesota, Michigan, and Masschusetts are higher quality players.
hey dd, i am sorry but you are a moron... you grew up in texas so how would you know what it hockey is like in minnesota....and you can't base any d-1 statistics off per capita...minnesota has more people so of course we will have a lower percentage..also, minnesota produces much more skilled player. the only good players to come from alaska are scott gomez the carle bros and evan trupp... in minnesota the wild have sold out 350 straight games or so ever sense they were here. sorry but minnesota takes the title of "the state of hockey".
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