Hockey is Growing in Illinois

In a post on the Slapshot blog at the New York Times, USA Hockey registration statistics were compared on a state-by-state basis.  Illinois experienced 7.3% growth from the 1998-1999 season to the 2009-2010 season.  That puts Illinois at 24th in growth.

A follow up post has Illinois at 19th in players per capita.  Of course, Illinois is still 6th overall in total number of players at 24,018.  The top five are Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Fastest growing states are in the South, particularly in the DC area and North Carolina.