I was perusing through the NHL standings today and I noticed that the three California teams have combined for 60 wins and 135 points, while all 7 Canadian teams have a combined 101 wins and 231 points.
That is an average of 20 wins per California team and 14 per Canadian team. That is an eye-popping separation.
While Californians can't compete with the deeply ingrained passion for hockey the fans north of the border possess, it does highlight how far the NHL has come in terms of national interest.
The growing west coast market has spawned a boom in NHL ready native Californians, including Long Beach native Emerson Etem of the Ducks. It also doesn't hurt to mention that California has more Stanley Cup wins, two, than the entire country of Canada since 1993.
As a life long hockey fan, I've known the words to the Canadian national anthem almost as long as I've known the words to the Star Spangled Banner, but as a California resident it's nice to see just how far hockey along the coast has come.
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