I moved to Bismarck in 2004. If you had told me to FF 20 years I'd have told you the West would "catch up"...I'm specifically talking about Bismarck I guess. Throw the rest in there. Bismarck has good numbers, but the point remains: you want the best hockey teams you have to consistently have the best athletes playing the game. That's not happening. Hockey is still low on the totem pole as far as that goes.
One good thing I'm seeing more consistently is 2nd and 3rd generation hockey families. The more that happens, the better, IMO.
Still, however....gotta find the best ATHLETES first. And the problem with hockey is you have to capture them early.