In the early twentieth century, before the National Hockey League had established a presence in the United States, a team from St. Paul played at the highest levels of hockey in the country. Sports historian Roger A. Godin resurrects the story of the St. Paul Athletic Club team--the AC's--and argues they were instrumental in turning Minnesota into one of the nation's first hockey hotbeds and gave birth to what is now known as the "State of Hockey." Godin also paints a fascinating history of the evolution of the sport from its amateur days to the arrival of the professional version we see...
In the early twentieth century, before the National Hockey League had established a presence in the United States, a team from St. Paul played at the ...