Welcome, Puckheads to this inaugural "State Of Hockey" series!

With playoff season  kicking off, we have so much to cover and share over the next several weeks.  But as we near the end of our first season, we also felt this was a good time to share our thoughts on the state of the game here in Hoosier Country.

In order to better understand where we're coming from, it would help to give you a little background on why we started INHockey.net.

Our mission - plain and simple - is to grow and promote the game of hockey in Indiana.  If we find something we think is good for the sport and the people who love it and play it, we’re in!  We want to make the game better for everyone involved, and we’re willing to try just about anything we believe will help.

This first “State Of Hoosier Hockey” report is intended to paint a picture of what the game is like here as we see it.  Recreational to pro, youth to adult - we’ll discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly.

You may not agree with some of the things stated in the pages that follow, but know that we've gone to great lengths to talk to countless people around the state who are deeply involved and committed to this great game.   This isn't just our perspective, but a summation of what we've seen and heard from all corners of the state.

Not an easy task, but that's part of why this report is needed.  Even those folks who live the game on a daily basis often know little about what's going on outside their own cities.  The hockey community in Indiana is a fractured lot.  One of the objectives of INHockey.net is to bring that community closer together.

But before we dive in, let’s get one thing straight… our intention is not to pick a fight with anyone.  We might have a critical view of a particular team, organization, or region, but it’s not personal.  It’s meant to be constructive.   And for every thing we feel is wrong, we’ll provide at least one idea to help make it better.

We’re in this together.  Any improvement to anyone, anywhere, anyhow is an improvement to the game itself.  And when the game gets better, we ALL get better.  A rising tide lifts all boats.

So let’s begin with a little brutal honesty… hockey in Indiana isn’t great.  That’s not to say we’re doing things wrong, or our organizations all stink, or we have zero talent anywhere in the state.  Far from it!  If we didn’t believe in phenomenal possibilities of the game here, we’d never have started INHockey.net!

What I do mean - and anyone who’s experienced hockey outside of our state would attest to - is that in spite of everything we’re doing well, we could be doing so much better.  Compared to hockey hotbeds such as Minnesota, Michigan, a large chunk of the Northeast, St. Louis, Colorado, and even California (who would have guessed!), we’re way behind!  I mean waaaayyyy behind!

According to the 2015-16 USA Hockey membership report, the Mid-Am District (of which Indiana is a part) is the third smallest in terms of participation.  Broken down by state, Indiana is ranked 25th in the nation!  We’re barely in the top half!  And with only 6,371 registered participants, we lag behind the largest state (Minnesota) by nearly 9 times!

 Fret not, hockey fans!  There is a silver lining…

While participation in most sports in the US is leveling off or declining, hockey continues to show strong and steady growth.  Indiana is up to 6,371 participants per USA Hockey, a 3% increase over 2014-15 and a 17% increase from five years prior.  In fact, Indiana has over 25% more hockey players than it did 10 years ago!

So what do all these numbers mean?  To us here at INHockey.net, it means that while we have a long way to go, we also have a chance to grow the game the right way.  But it also means that we need to start now.

In the next installment to be published on Thursday, February 16th, we'll dip into a bit of hockey history and dive deep into what's going right with Hoosier hockey...