from Chris Stevenson at the Ottawa Sun,

This suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex could very well be home to the top pick in the 2013 NHL draft, giving Plano two first-round picks in the last three years.

That's potentially two more than, say, Montreal has produced in that time.

Defenceman Seth Jones, the son of former NBA power forward Popeye Jones and Red Line scouting report's projected No. 1 next summer, spent time growing up here when his dad was playing for the Mavericks. Stefan Noesen, the Plymouth Whalers forward who was picked 21st overall in the 2011 draft by the Ottawa Senators, is a Plano native and played here until he moved north at 14.

Chris Brown, a second-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2009 who now attends the University of Michigan, also played his minor hockey here (his first hockey was played in Raleigh, N.C.).

They played their minor hockey here, learned the game here, saw their passion for the game grow one town over from Irving and the long shadow cast by Texas Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys.

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