from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN,

Picture hockey in the United States like its own universe.

There are some large, gaseous planets with many moons, such as Boston and the Twin Cities. There are smaller planets, with the buoyancy of new life, such as Chicago or Washington. There are dimming, dying stars, and there are new ones that glow with the intensity of ... well, the Las Vegas Strip.

It's been a long-standing theory that Toronto -- for better or worse -- is the center (centre) of the Canadian hockey universe. What's the American equivalent?

"In the whole United States? Wow," pondered Seth Jones of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 25-year-old Texas native who has played on the U.S. men's national team three times. "Minnesota's always a big hockey location. Detroit. Probably one of those two."

continued