When South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Connor Moore left Atlanta — the only home he’d ever known — in the eighth grade to move to Boston to pursue his dream of playing professional hockey, his friends back home thought he’d gotten into some serious trouble.

His reception at Brooks School, an elite New England prep school, was equally baffling to the players already enrolled at one of Boston’s top hockey programs.

“They were confused about how I’d gotten from Atlanta to Boston,” Moore said with a chuckle. “A couple of them didn’t even know we had ice rinks in Atlanta.”

South Carolina forward Josh Wilkins, a native of Raleigh, had a similar experience when he went to training camp with the Windsor Spitfires, of the Ontario Hockey League.

“Most of the guys are from Ontario or like Minnesota, so when I showed up and told them I was from Raleigh, I got some funny looks,” Wilkins said.

The snickers and the sideways glances quickly faded from their teammates as soon as the pair stepped on the ice and proved they belonged.

“If you can play, you can play, and then it doesn’t matter where you are from,” Moore said.

Moore and Wilkins are part of a growing number of professional hockey players who got their start in the sport in the South.

As hockey has spread throughout the Sun Belt regions of the United States, more and more players are coming from areas outside of the traditional northern markets.

The majority of U.S.-born NHL players are from parts of the country that one would expect — Minnesota (46), Michigan (31), Massachusetts (24) and New York (23) lead the way.

But states like Florida (10), Texas (7) and California (7) are starting to make inroads into the market. Ryan Hartman, who was born in Hilton Head, has played in more than 450 NHL games and is the only player from South Carolina to make it all the way to the NHL.

“I think you are going to see a lot of players come from the South in the coming years,” said South Carolina Stingrays coach Brenden Kotyk. “When you go to Greenville, or here at the Ice Palace, you see tons and tons of kids on the ice. So, it’s no surprise to me to see players develop down here and move on to professional hockey.”

Despite the growing numbers of teams and rinks, the misconception that hockey isn’t played in the South is still prevalent at almost every level.

“When I signed my first pro contract with Harford (American Hockey League), I was sent down to Greenville,” Kotyk said. “That was in 2017, I didn’t even know they played hockey in South Carolina.”

Like most kids, Wilkins and Moore got hooked on the game going to NHL and ECHL games. Moore followed the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers until the franchise moved to Winnipeg in 2011. Then he became an ECHL Atlanta Gladiators fan.

“We went to Gladiator games, it was closer to my parents’ house than Thrasher games,” Moore said. “I played a lot of different sports growing up, but without the Thrashers or Gladiators, I probably would have gravitated more to another sport.”

A sentiment shared by Wilkins.

“We had some Hurricane players that lived near us when I was growing up, and there was always street hockey and roller hockey in the neighborhood,” Wilkins said. “That’s what pulled me more toward hockey.”

When Moore returned to the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., home of the Atlanta Gladiators, for a game last season, he had nearly two dozen family and friends in attendance.

“Honestly, it felt like a home game for me with all the people I had there cheering for me,” Moore said. “It was really cool, growing up, going to those games, and then to be on the ice and experience that as a professional player.”

Wilkins and Moore have known each other since their youth travel days when the pair played on the “Southern” circuit.

“It seemed like every tournament, we’d go to Atlanta or they’d come to Raleigh, and we’d play against him and a bunch of his buddies,” Wilkins said. “We’d go to some of the offseason camps, and we actually got pretty close.”

The rivalry extended to the college ranks, with Moore playing at Boston College and Wilkins at nearby Providence College.

This is the first opportunity for the duo to be on the same team.

“It’s awesome to finally be on the same team,” Moore said. “It’s crazy to think where we came from and where we are now. It just shows you how small the hockey community really is.”