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Video: Minnesota was the perfect place to grow up playing hockey, says Nick Bjugstad

Well before he was a first-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers, Nick Bjugstad developed his skills growing up in Blaine, a suburb of Minneapolis, in Minnesota.

It was the perfect place to grow up playing hockey.

“It’s the State of Hockey for a reason. Everyone loves it there,” he said in an interview for Kraft Hockeyville.

“My family had me in skates when I was like three years old. Lots of people had rinks, always playing street hockey. Lot of little fights that the neighbors got to witness.”

The state of Minnesota is well represented among the West Finalists and in the Top 10 for Kraft Hockeyville.

Bjugstad played his high school hockey for Blaine, before moving to the University of Minnesota for three years. Taken 19th overall in the 2010 draft, Bjugstad has played 278 games for the Panthers, with 62 goals and 128 points.

“I think it made us better hockey players being able to play a lot of street hockey,” he said. “I just love everything about Minnesota. I think eventually one day I’ll end up trying to coach a high school team there.”