Where NHLers come from: New York

by James Mirtle on Dec 11, 2008 7:45 AM CST Comment 20 comments

Believe it or not, the state that's made the most gains in terms of producing NHLers in recent years is the Empire State.

By way of comparison, here's how New York compares to nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania:

New-york_medium

You have to admit, that's pretty impressive — and it's all happened in the past 15 years.

Now, I'm relying on birthplace alone to determine where players are "from" and New York is a huge state in terms of population, but for the most part, these are homegrown players. Twenty-three current NHLers were born in New York, and only Mathieu Schneider and Francis Bouillon were born in New York City (although there are a handful more from the surrounding area).

The rest are mainly from good ol' Western New York, where the Sabres have made quite an impact and are a big, big part of the sporting landscape. Buffalonians in the NHL? Patrick Kane. Lee Stempniak. Todd Marchant, Patrick Kaleta and Nick Foligno.

Add in this stretch between Buffalo and Utica, and you've got a few more from the pipeline:

West-ny_medium

Players from this 200-mile I-90 corridor (which I realize stretches outside of WNY) also include Robbie Schremp, Marty Reasoner, Jay Leach, Brian Gionta, Tim Connolly, Erik Cole, Ryan Callahan and Dustin Brown.

These days, there is a ton of high school hockey being played throughout New York, a relatively new development. Steve Manson, editor of the Western New York Hockey Magazine, recently called the state "the biggest and best kept secret in USA Hockey."

Some credit the fact there are a lot of former Sabres settled in the area, working as coaches, while others point to the success of minor-league hockey in Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, etc.

Twenty years ago, New York born players made up just 4 per cent of the U.S. population in the NHL, and last season, that number hit 15 per cent. It's going to be tough for the neighbouring states to catch up.

Players born in Ohio: Dan Fritsche, Peter Harrold, Mike Rupp
Players born in Pennsylvania: Ryan Malone, R.J. Umberger, George Parros, Mike Weber, Bill Thomas, John Zeiler

0 recs | Comment 20 comments | Add comment | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Southern CT, which is an NYC suburb, has a ton of players.

Kevin Shattenkirk played in Stamford, CT. Jaime Sifers, who played a game with the Leafs on Monday is from Stratford, Chris Drury is from Trumbull, Canadiens’ draft pick Max Pacioretty is from New Canaan, and there’s a bunch more.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Dec 11, 2008 8:36 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Chris Clark is from CT

But hes from around Hartford, That probably doesn’t count.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey

by jobe on Dec 12, 2008 1:18 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The better teams from Hartford/Springfield area drive down to play the CT coast teams a lot, so it sort of does actually.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Dec 12, 2008 10:30 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Now if only they could do something about the weather, I would move back there in a minute!

The population of Pominville keeps rising!

by Blackcapricorn on Dec 11, 2008 8:40 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I couldn’t believe I forgot Lee Stempniak when I pointed this out the other day.

by Afino on Dec 11, 2008 8:53 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

These days, there is a ton of high school hockey being played throughout New York, a relatively new development.

As a former NY State High School Hockey Player around Utica, NY, only just 2 years ago, I wouldn’t say its a “relatively new” development. Yes, there has been a lot of growth, but from my knowledge around Utica, there has always been a real solid core of HS hockey teams since the 1970s. I’m sure the same is for the Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.

Watch out for prospects coming out of Utica in the near future. There has been a huge revival in the past 10 years because about 5 or 6 state champions have come out of the area in Division 2 HS Hockey. Id say the top current prospect from the area is Steve Zalewski who is playing for the Worchester Sharks in the A. He is from New Hartford and went on to play ECAC Hockey at Clarkson. There are plenty of good ones coming out of Section 3 in NY State tho (Oswego to Utica area). / End Rant.

by Rob Luker on Dec 11, 2008 9:17 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Compared to Canadian provinces and places like Minnesota, the development of high school hockey in New York is relatively new. There was hardly anything there at all pre-Sabres.

by James Mirtle on Dec 11, 2008 12:58 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I went to the second biggest high school in western new york, and the hockey team wasn’t at a full varsity level until 2004-05.

The area still dosn’t quite compare to minnesota and north dakota, let alone most of canada.

Blue and Gold (of Buffalo)

by Ebscer on Dec 13, 2008 2:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Even if the college hockey teams aren’t necessarily big producers of NHL players, I wonder if having a lot of Div I hockey in the state helps keep that youth interest going. You see lots of kids in the stands at those things.

More surprising to me: All the current Pa-born players are from Southwestern Pennsylvania. Only Parros isn’t from Allegheny County (Pittsburgh and its immediate suburbs), though Little Washington isn’t too far down I-79. I would have expected someone from anywhere else in the state.

by n_c on Dec 11, 2008 10:06 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I would figure Erie not being too far from TO would produce some. Their most famous athlete son is Bob Sanders.

by jobe on Dec 12, 2008 1:20 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Let’s not forget Long Island with Mike Komisarek, Chris Higgins, Eric Nystrom, Rob Scuderi while forgetting the Ferraro twins.

by GoingFiveHole on Dec 11, 2008 10:46 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

My initial guess regarding New York’s surge would’ve been the Rangers’ Cup in ‘94. But if most of these kids are from the western part of the state, I guess that might not necessarily hold. I mean, I’m sure there’s lots of Rangers fans in Buffalo, just like there’s lots of Leafs and Habs fans…well, anywhere in Canada, but I guess that’s not the only thing, anyway.

by Doogie2K on Dec 11, 2008 11:03 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Rochester hockey is successful

by twoeightnine on Dec 11, 2008 11:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

That posted too quick, supposed to be a ?

by twoeightnine on Dec 11, 2008 11:05 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just ask Donner.

by Afino on Dec 11, 2008 12:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s a fair point. It is amazing how many AHL teams are within such a small area, though, even if some are having trouble drawing right now.

by James Mirtle on Dec 11, 2008 1:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

James, you’re forgetting the biggest name in Upstate NY hockey… Rory Fitzpatrick!

by dave in Rocha on Dec 11, 2008 2:25 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Not in the NHL this year.

by James Mirtle on Dec 11, 2008 2:52 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

C'mon dave, he's the Amerks leader!

I’m not sure it’s fair to the word trouble to describe the Amerks draw as troubled. When you can’t sell $7 tickets you’re in deep doo. And this is an area that loves hockey.

by twoeightnine on Dec 11, 2008 3:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Ohio Players

James, Bryan Smolinski is from Ohio. I know you’re only going with current NHL’ers, but he was part of a group of Buckeyes that included Ian Moran, Pat Jablonski, and a couple of others.

by Truth Serum on Dec 11, 2008 10:11 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

From The Rink: An SB Nation Community

Network Bar

From The Rink -

SB Nation's hockey blog