Since the late-19th century, the cold, winter weather enabled the land of 10,000 lakes to be a natural home for ice hockey and the residents of the state have invested more time, effort and energy into the game than most other regions in the world.

The St. Paul Saints, who played their first game before the war, became one of the top amateur clubs in the country and provided four players for the inaugural US national team at the 1920 Olympics.

[3] Cyril Weidenborner, Edward Fitzgerald, Moose Goheen and Anthony Conroy were all Minnesota natives and earned silver medals in Antwerp.

They were able to form a natural rivalry with the cross-town Minneapolis Millers but professional hockey in Minnesota experienced a few bumps in the road.

The Great Depression forced several teams to cease operations and made many others switch back to amateur hockey, as they could not afford to pay the players.

When the United States entered World War II, many leagues and teams across Minnesota suspended operations for the duration.

Since the mid-40s, Minnesota high schools have been one of the biggest producers of American ice hockey players and have become a point of pride for the state.

Mariucci was a vocal critic of using Canadian players and achieved more notability for his commitment when Minnesota's American roster was able to match and even surpass other schools.

After the AHA failed to return after the war, the teams that had survived the hibernation formed a new circuit called the United States Hockey League.

After several failed attempts with pro hockey, Minnesota turned to senior amateur leagues and saw a good deal of success.

Despite one of the NHL's expansion teams being the Minnesota North Stars, not a single player from the state made the roster in the first season.

However, the doubling of the NHL also required a complimentary increase in the minor leagues and many American players were finally able to get into the pro ranks in either the AHL, IHL, or CPHL.

While the success at the Olympics was national news and spawned the professional careers of Brooks as well as players like Rob McClanahan, Mike Ramsey and Mark Pavelich, other events were also occurring.

After his first choice of Los Angeles was blocked by the impending arrival of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Green moved the team to Dallas in 1993.

When women's hockey debuted at the 1998 Winter Olympics, just two players on Team USA's gold-medal-winning squad hailed from Minnesota.

Fourteen separate college programs were started over a three-year period and helped to close the gap in women's hockey.

That number is nearly 13,000 more than the next closest state (Massachusetts) but does not include the approximately 6,500 high school players who are not directly affiliated with the national program.

While a few other states have comparable percentages in terms of engagement, Minnesota still heads the list with about 1.14% of residents being active hockey players, or about 1 out of every 90 people.

[17] Unsurprisingly, as the largest population area in the state, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region is home to a majority of the players from Minnesota.

The southwest corner of the state, between the borders with Iowa, South Dakota and the Minnesota River has yet to produce any notable players.

This high and prolonged interest in the game has resulted in many native Minnesotans achieving notoriety in the sport with some being known nationally or even internationally.

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