Just Want To Make A Comparison Between These Two Women's Top-Flight College Hockey Teams (Scheduled Post)

For the first time since 2007, the University of Minnesota women's hockey team will not be a part of the NCAA Tournament.  I will have many, many more thoughts on this underachieving club Friday in its #-Infinity space in The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey.  But for now, I want to do something I think I'm doing for the first time ever, and taking off a part of what would be something I would write about in the WMNSS and making it its own blog post.

I noticed this when the Minnesota was playing in Madison for a two-Game series against Wisconsin, which is in the field.  I have looked at the rosters for both squads on their respective websites, and I cannot help but glean these statistics:

• Number of Minnesotans on Minnesota: 17
• Number of Wisconsinites on Wisconsin: 1
• Number of Wisconsinites on Minnesota: 1
• Number of Minnesotans on Wisconsin: 4

So, to summarize, the U. ties Sconnie in the number of Wisconsin natives playing for their program -- one.  In other words, between these two schools and states, there are just two native Wisconsinites playing.  There are more Minnesotans who have crossed the border to play there than Sconnies who have come the other way and are playing here.  There are more native Minnesotans playing for the Badgers than native Wisconsinites.  That fact fucking blows my mind.

But the overarching geographic composition of both teams is the most important takeaway.  The vast majority of the Gophers come from The Gopher State; there are a total of 23 players listed for the U., so the team is 74% Minnesotan.  Meanwhile, as you could probably guess, the Badgers are basically mercenaries from all over the country and even Canada -- just not Wisconsin.  And Wisconsin is playing in the tournament this year, and Minnesota is not.

I remember some people criticizing the provincialism of the Minnesota men's hockey team during The Doug Woog Era.  Woog would only recruit Minnesotans.  That boosted school and state pride, but the University of Minnesota never won an NCAA championship under Woog despite Minnesota being The State Of Hockey.  They did shortly after Woog was fired for Don Lucia, breaking a long drought to win it all in 2003.  The U. won it in Overtime via a rebound shot from Thomas Vanek ... who is from Austria.

Yes, the U. has won NCAA championships with a roster chock full of Minnesotans in the past -- but that was in the past.  Maybe what Minnesota is going through now is just a blip.  Also, maybe the changes needed to get the U. back into the tourney have nothing to do with where Head Coach Brad Frost recruits.  But I will be a JAQ (Just Asking Questions)-off: Can you be both a heavily-Minnesotan team and an NCAA title-winning one?