READING, Pa - When the playoff season began in all of the professional hockey world, something that has never been done before finally became a reality. All of the seven professional hockey teams that reside in the state of Pennsylvania made the playoffs in their respective leagues.

In the NHL, it was the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. In the AHL, the Philadelphia Phantoms, Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and the Hershey Bears all qualified. In the ECHL, the Reading Royals and Johnstown Chiefs were in the playoffs. So far, five of those teams are still alive, with only Johnstown and Hershey having been eliminated.

Reading will face the Cincinnati Cyclones in Game Seven of their ECHL North Division final series tonight in Cincinnati. If they can win, it will mean that in each league, a team from the state of Pennsylvania will have made their league's conferences finals. No other state in the history of professional hockey has ever been able to make that same claim.

Imagine the possibilities; if Reading can somehow defeat the Cyclones, all three leagues can have a champion that resides in Pennsylvania. Can Minnesota, Texas, or any other state make that claim?

No, they can’t. Which leads us to the title of this story. Is Pennsylvania the new state of hockey?

The answer to that is still to be determined, but let’s face facts here. Claiming to be the “State of hockey” is a slogan, not a fact. If somehow all three leagues can have a champion from Pennsylvania, it will officially be time to remove the slogan from Minnesota and place it at the heart of the Keystone state.

For now, fans from PA sure have something to brag about, no matter how you look at it. Unfortunately two teams from PA will go down, only out of necessity. The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins will face each other later this week in the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals. In the AHL, each team's affiliates are already engaged in a battle of their own as the Philadelphia Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins are tied at 1-1 in their best-of-seven series in the AHL’s East Division finals.

Then comes the Reading Royals, who must somehow win on the road against arguably the ECHL’s best team during the regular season, the Cincinnati Cyclones. So good were the Cyclones on home ice that they lost just four games at home during the regular season and only twice during the playoffs. The Royals, however, are responsible for three of those losses, including twice in this series.

Say the Royals win against the Cyclones, just the thought that PA can have three champions in three separate leagues is a bit of a mind-blowing proposition. Make no mistake about it, to proclaim yourself the “State of hockey” would be well within Pennsylvania’s right. Even if two leagues end up with champions from the same state is quite an accomplishment, regardless of leagues involved.

Relax, hockey fans from the great state of Minnesota. For now, you are still “The State of Hockey.” For now anyway.

Contact the author at BJennings@Insidehockey.com

Brian's articles can also be found on www.prohockeynews.com