Thunder Bay has always been known as a hockey town.
Now there’s proof.
Bloggers at the10and3.com have put together an interactive map showing the origins of every NHL player between 1923 and 2012, and Thunder Bay (along with its predecessors Fort William and Port Arthur), was number one on a per capita basis.
“Not even close,” authors Michael Kuzmin, Arik Motskin and Zack Gallinger write in the Jan. 6 edition of their blog.
“Without a doubt, the best pound for pound hockey town in Canada is the unassuming, Northern Ontario transportation hub of Thunder Bay.”
It’s a list that started with hall-of-famer Jack Adams and has included the likes of Gus Bodnar, Edgar Laprade and Alex Delvecchio, to current NHLers like Jordan, Marc and Eric Staal, Robert Bortuzzo and Nashville goalie Carter Hutton.
“Thunder Bay has produced NHL-ready players at a remarkably consistent rate – every season since the NHL’s founding in 1918 has featured at least one or even a handful of Thunder Bay products, which cannot be said for a Canadian city of its size or smaller,” the authors write.
It’s this tidbit that grabbed the attention of Hockey Northwestern Ontario executive director Trevor Hosanna, who said the blog has been shared repeatedly by minor hockey associations in Thunder Bay since word first started spreading.
“It really speaks to the quality of the players that come out of here, the programs that we offer and the volunteer programs that help that along,” Hosanna said on Wednesday.
Is it something in the (frozen) water?
“I think it’s hard to pinpoint,” Hosanna said. “I think genetics, obviously. I think when you look you’ve got the Staal family, the Johnson family, the Pyatts, the Chorneys.
“We’ve had some luck there with some families that have produced multiple players. But I think other than that, some of it has to do with our weather, where we are located, the culture. Outdoor rinks have always been a big thing. We’ve got a lot of outdoor rinks and a lot of parents have great backyard rinks.
“I think kids spend a lot of time on the ice just playing. They don’t look at it as practice. And they develop a lot of skills out there.”
Thunder Bay is by no means the only hockey hotbed in Canada. Not surprisingly Toronto and Montreal have produced more than their fair share of NHLers, as has Edmonton. Among cities similar in size to Thunder Bay, Sudbury is a close rival, boasting the likes of Eddie Shack, Mike Foligno, Ron Duguy and Todd Bertuzzi.
Diane Imrie, executive director at the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, said the news really wasn’t a surprise to her.
Imrie said a few years ago they took stock of the region’s NHLers, estimating about 125 had played at least one game in the big leagues.
“Considering our population, it works out to be not a big surprise,” she said. “And even Stanley Cups, our players have won about 40.”
Imrie went on to say there’s a culture of hockey that exists in Thunder Bay, and it’s rare that players who do succeed don’t give back to the next generation.
“It just keeps going on and on,” she said, pointing to Henry Staal, whose four sons have each played in the NHL.
“Henry was a great hockey player himself at LU and passed it along to his kids,” Imrie said.
The interactive map created by the10and3.com divides players into census divisions, so it includes players like Charlie Simmer, born in Terrace Bay. But it also excludes players who grew up in Thunder Bay, such as Chicago’s Patrick Sharp, who was born in Winnipeg, and former goalie Alex Auld, born in Cold Lake, Alta.
