In 2020-21, there were just over 450,000 registered hockey players in the United States. That number grew by almost 125,000 in 2024-25, with most of the increases coming from those 10 and under. There was a 35 percent increase in total youth players in the Miami area in that span, while the youth participation in the Tampa area nearly doubled.

“It’s great to see from all aspects,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “They are doing a great job with the youth in the area. Knowing what some of the alumni have been doing to give back down there.”

Now, there are almost a dozen players to skate in at least one game this season who were born in Florida, including brothers Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) and Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils), defensemen Jakob Chychrun (Washington Capitals) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Carolina Hurricanes), forwards Brandon Duhaime (Capitals) and Gavin Brindley (Colorado Avalanche), and goalie Jacob Fowler (Montreal Canadiens).

In 1991-92, there were no such players.

“Hockey down there in general has just grown so much. It’s cool to see,” said Gostisbehere, who is from Pembroke Pines. “I think youth hockey was pretty good back in my day. I left when I was 16. I didn’t leave too early. I played for the Junior Panthers for my whole travel life in Florida. I enjoyed it. It was pretty cool to play hockey as a kid from Florida — and missing school a lot to go up North and travel. It was a pretty cool experience.”

Of course, having players like future Hall of Famers Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy on the Lightning has also helped getting more kids involved in the sport.

“I love this community. It’s an honor to represent this community as the captain of this team,” Hedman said. “You get to see the growth up close. All the things the organization has accomplished, and it has allowed us to go into different areas and get young kids excited about hockey and interested in playing hockey. Playing in a Stadium Series is going to be another big accomplishment for this organization and Tampa Bay.

“There’s been a lot of success in this state. We won back-to-back (championships). The Panthers are back-to-back champions, and you see all the fans, a lot of new fans, getting into the sport. More kids in the state are learning hockey and want to play hockey. It’s pretty exciting. That’s a credit to the success of the teams and the relationships that have been built in the communities.”

In the past seven years, 10 ball hockey rinks have been built in the greater Tampa area, including the Lightning and the NHL donating a rink as part of the legacy project during the 2018 All-Star Game, which was held in Tampa.

“Now there are rinks popping up all over the place [in Tampa Bay] and it’s the same thing in South Florida as well,” Cooper said. “I remember when Dallas … the team moved from Minnesota to there (in 1992) and the rinks started popping up and all of a sudden, youth hockey became huge and the fan base got bigger. There’s no doubt I’ve seen that here in the past decade. You can get ice time anywhere and that’s a good thing.”