"The development, the youth hockey, it's always been a hotbed for hockey players and it looks and sounds like it's only getting better," Zach Parise said. "That's a good sign for everybody."
Tuesday's game alone will feature up to eight players from the state.
For the Wild, Parise, Seeler, Matt Cullen Alex Stalock and Nate Prosser are expected to suit up, while on the other end, Neal Pionk, Brady Skjei and Vinni Lettieri should play.
St. Paul native and Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh would have made it nine, but he's out with an upper-body injury.
Per Elias Sports Bureau, the most Minnesota-born players dressed for one game involving the Wild is when eight Minnesota natives all played in a game against the New York Islanders on Dec. 9, 2014.
"It seems like the number keeps going," Prosser said. "We love it, being from here and growing up here, we all know how crazy hockey is and how much your community surrounds it."
For so many of the Minnesotans in the NHL right now, it's not just about the players who have arrived. It's also about their families and their communities who are with them on their journey.
For Seeler, it's Eden Prairie, where he won two state championships in high school.
For Prosser, it's Elk River.
"It's great. Every city usually has an outdoor rink. For me, it was the outdoor rink right next to the high school arena and then we had Handke Pit and both were filled every night," Prosser said. "My mom would drop me and my brother off, we'd play with our friends and we'd pack our own lunch. We'd be out there for hours on end, she'd come back for dinner and pick us up and bring us home for dinner.
"Just having that opportunity to be outside and get in the fresh air, and play with your buddies with a tennis ball or a small puck was what it was all about."
Prosser's story is hardly unique.
Cullen grew up on outdoor ice in Virginia and Moorhead, Stalock in South St. Paul, Skjei in Lakeville, Pionk in Hermantown and Lettieri in Excelsior.
Parise was in Bloomington.
"It speaks a lot for what's being done at the youth level here," Parise said. "We say it all the time, that's just what kids grow up doing here. I think it shows."
"When it wasn't wintertime, we had our roller blades on and we were playing for the Stanley Cup out in the street playing street hockey," Prosser said. "In the winter, you're a rink rat, you're at your practices and it wasn't like you just went home. You went to the outdoor rink and played more. That's what this state is all about."
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederreiter - Eric Staal - Tyler Ennis
Zach Parise - Matt Cullen - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Daniel Winnik
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Gustav Olofsson - Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler - Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
RANGERS
Rick Nash - Mika Zibanejad - Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner - Kevin Hayes - J.T. Miller
Jimmy Vesey - David Desharnais - Jesper Fast
Cody McLeod - Peter Holland - Vinni Lettieri
Brady Skjei - Neal Pionk
Nick Holden - Anthony DeAngelo
John Gilmour - Ryan Sproul
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Related:
- Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. New York Rangers
- Seeler readies for NHL debut
- Listen: PONDcast preview of Wild-Rangers
- Watch: Wild Vision vs. Rangers
