Hard to believe, but the NHL regular season starts Oct. 10. To whet your appetite for the action on the ice, PennStakes.com – your source for PA sportsbooks – decided to see which states in the U.S. have produced the most NHL players.
We utilized Hockey-Reference.com to gather the home states for U.S.-born NHL players. Of the 1,381 players ever born in the United States to play at least a game in the NHL, we found the Top 10 states that have produced the most.
Most NHL Players By State
Here is info you won’t find on the many PA sports betting apps.
Pennsylvania Cracks Top 10
The Keystone State finished in the top 10 at No. 8 with a total of 38 (2.8%). Minnesota topped the list with a whopping 300 players (21.7%), followed by Massachusetts (217, 15.7%), Michigan (190, 13.8%), New York (138, 10%) and Illinois (78, 5.6%).
A very prominent Pennsylvania product is goaltender John Gibson. Entering his 11th season with the Anaheim Ducks, Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, has posted a record of 180-179 in 431 games played with a .912 save percentage. A second-round draft pick by Anaheim in 2011, Gibson is looking to improve on a 14-31 (53 games played) record last season, in which he posted a .899 save percentage.
The two proud state franchises, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, have seen much better days. Of the 32 NHL teams, BetMGM Sportsbook PA has the Penguins ranked 13th with +2500 odds. It is far worse for the Flyers, who haven’t made the playoffs in recent years. The Flyers are ranked tied for 29th with Montreal, with odds of +15000. Only San Jose and Seattle (both at +25000) have longer odds.
