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Russo's All-MinnesotA nHl teAM MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM // FEBRUARY.2016 28 (and the History Behind #OneofUs) s best I can tell, I first used the #oneofus hashtag on Twitter (follow me at @russostrib, all the cool kids do) on Feb. 16, 2012, in reply to a Wild P.R. guy who tweeted that Dustin Byfuglien was the highest- scoring Minnesota-born player against the Wild. I admit the hashtag was a playful jab at the provincials who used to email and tweet me incessantly with suggestions that the hometown Wild should fill its roster with Minnesotans. "Now that we got Parise, what about trading for Big Buff?" "Any chance the Wild go after Okposo?" "Now that we got Ballard, what about Leopold and Martin?" "When can we start #BackesWatch?" The hashtag has taken off since by fans who get the gist of my joke. It's all in good fun, of course, because even though I'm only an adopt- ed #oneofus guy born in New York and raised in South Florida, I've got the utmost respect for the great State of Hockey. Minnesotans have the right to be proud of the players produced here and the hockey played here. I mean, what's more fun than the state high school hockey tournament? "We're pretty lucky," said the Wild's Ryan Carter, who is #oneofus and a product of White Bear Lake Area Hockey Association. "The one thing I really take pride in is that we're raised different than a lot of the other places that produce NHL players. "We play for the youth program for our city, we play for the high school teams, then maybe we move onto junior and probably college. A lot of these kids from other states, they're moving out at 15, 16 years old to play junior. I stayed home and played four years of high school hockey, then went to Mankato. "That's a rare thing for a professional hockey player. It's pretty cool in Minnesota that you can play high school hockey and still develop well enough to be a player in this league." There are Minnesotans scattered throughout the National Hockey League, so sticking with the #oneofus theme, here is my All-Minnesota NHL team: leFt WinG ZACH PARISE, Minnesota Wild (Bloomington): Relentless worker has more goals than any other active Minnesotan. ANDERS LEE, N.Y. Islanders (Edina): Such an athlete. This guy was a finalist for Mr. Football and Mr. Hockey at Edina. Power forward on the rise who scored 25 goals as a rookie. MATT HENDRICKS, Edmonton Oilers (Blaine): Besides being such a good citizen when it comes to his charity, he's one of the hardest workers in the NHL. RYAN CARTER, Minnesota Wild (White Bear Lake): Former Stanley Cup champion and proud fourth- liner who campaigned for a spot and convinced me: "You can't build a lunch all on cookies. You need bread, you need meat to win," Carter said. CenteR NICK BJUGSTAD, Florida Panthers (Blaine): All the tools to be a star and all the leadership ability to be a captain. DEREK STEPAN, N.Y. Rangers (Hastings): Skilled, hard-working Hastings native who would probably be the Rangers' captain if another tremendous #oneofus wasn't. BROCK NELSON, N.Y. Islanders (Warroad): Former Warroad star who is big, smart, highly offensive and very versatile. DAVID BACKES, St. Louis Blues (Blaine): The Blues' hard-nosed, some- times mean (only on the ice) captain hails from Blaine but starred at Spring Lake Park High School. RiGHt WinG KYLE OKPOSO, N.Y. Islanders (St. Paul): When he's on, he's as electrifying a scorer as there is in the NHL. He's the guy Isles coach Jack Capuano moves from line to line to spark others. BLAKE WHEELER, Winnipeg Jets (Plymouth): Now the Jets' go-to scorer. He is big, skilled, has a great shot and is beloved in that Winnipeg locker room. A RUSSO'S RANTS BY MICHAEL RUSSO "That's a rare thing for a professional hockey player. It's pretty cool in Minnesota that you can play high school hockey and still develop well enough to be a player in this league." MINNESOTA WILD/GETTY IMAGES MATT HENDRICKS BLAKE WHEELER RYAN CARTER