LARSMONT  – Joe Mauer gets the call to the Hall, the Wild have wrapped up their pre-All-Star game schedule, and what is the state of the NHL and the game at this point?

As a longtime Minnesota Twins fan I actually had Tuesday, Jan. 23, marked on my calendar. That was the day this year's newest BB HOF inductees would be announced. Most Twins fans throughout the state were aware that this year's ballot had a familiar name on it.

St. Paul's own Joe Mauer would be a first-time consideration for the voters which made me smile. On the other hand, the PBWA has several members who have voting rights that take their "gatekeeper" status to the Hall quite seriously.  

Some observers believe there to be more than a few of them who are arrogant in that regard and I can't say that I disagree with that. Be that what it may, I appreciate their high regard for the standards involved but hold disdain for those who take it too far. Having said that, I was prepared for Mauer to have to wait another year or two to get in. I was already convinced he would get in at some point. For me it was just a matter of when.   

The scrutiny involved does get overbearing at times, especially when I consider that even for those already in, every year's vote appears as a chance for some to relitigate their call to the Hall all over again. So my expectations were low before the announcements were even made. On this day I was pleasantly surprised. Mauer got the call!  

He is only the third catcher in baseball history to get into the Hall as a first-ballot inductee. Johnny Bench and Ivan Rodriguez were the other two. Since I know that Mauer's induction will be under the microscope for eternity now, I wondered if his ballot success was indeed legitimate. It is. His 39.0 WAR 7 (an amalgam of the player's seven best seasons) place him 5th on the list of all-time best catchers.

In addition, his hitting skills were well beyond average and he won the AL MVP in 2009. Catchers just never win that award. (5 in the last 50 seasons)  

Of course there is much more data and stats to go through regarding Mauer if you desire to do so. I did go through much of it and his induction is for real. He's got the street "cred" and the numbers to get in. Many congrats to you Joe, and for you fans, your calendar should have a huge asterisk next to Sunday, July 21. That's the induction ceremony day. Tune in!  

Every year before the Stanley Cup Final begins NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman gives a state of the league address. He normally will address a lot of low to mid-level league minutiae, while giving a lot of non-answers to the real important stuff. So be it. He will give a mini-address of sorts before next weekend's All-Star event in Toronto. He will speak to some league business, but when it gets to the more challenging aspects of the sport as it exists today, he will say little.    

I'm referring to news earlier in the week that the London Ontario police have informed five members of Canada's 2018 WJC Gold Medal team they need to surrender regarding charges they will face from an alleged sexual assault case that occurred at a post-tournament celebration. Without rehashing the entire incident here, replete with all of its sordid details, the summary is that as many as eight team members in attendance took sexual liberty with a very intoxicated young woman.  

The incident was covered up for some time, going as far up as the executive offices of Hockey Canada before the news exploded across the hockey universe. Jobs were lost, careers were ruined, and an adoring hockey public was left to wonder what was going on in their world. Where did this kind of behavior come from? How did it get so effectively hidden until that could no longer be accommodated?  

Those are valid questions. There are a small handful of writers who have covered this story from both sides of the border. One of them in my view, tends to make it sound as if a large part of the entire hockey world behaves like this and he says it through the headlines of his articles. I've opined in past articles that I believe the incidence of poor or criminal types of behavior in hockey is likely about the average of the rest of society, maybe even lower in total and by percentage.  

In my years of playing and coaching, I do not recall any incidents of less-than-stellar behavior and manners. Some parents pushed the envelope at times and five of my teams coached involved players that were old enough to begin considering the merits of beer and hanging out with girls.  But there were never any events of this magnitude whereby law enforcement and attorneys had to step in and sort things out.  

I'll admit though that there have been some programs that had some problems in that regard but I believe they were to the minimum. This matter is quite serious though and should get all of the attention it deserves. Justice should be delivered where and when necessary. Anything less would be insulting to any victims and their families. And no perpetrators should be spared anything they have coming to them if and when they have received their due process. It does bother me immensely that a few seem to paint the entire hockey community with the same brush when I know better. Enough said...  

The Minnesota Wild have concluded the pre-All-Star Game portion of their schedule and let me just say that this past week was a season killer. I had high hopes coming into the week and the team dashed them quite quickly. I'll readily admit that I didn't see the team achieving much this season in terms of the playoffs, or getting in, but I try to stay positive and the team has given the fans some hope in recent games. It was all for naught.    

The John Hynes era stands at 16-14-1. (16-15) It began with an 11-4 run and has been followed up with a 5-10-1 performance. The team record for January is 5-9 and I don't wish to review this past week where the club coughed up third-period leads and lost two games (and the points) in regulation. Injury and illness, combined with cap restrictions have placed this team in a perilous spot, one they may not escape from. Oddly enough they could still sneak into a spot as unlikely as that may seem. They are only six points out from the last wild card spot.  

It may as well be a hundred points the way this team is playing. And I hold no reason to think that next season will be any better. And dare I remind you that team owner Craig Leipold will not allow for a "rebuild" to take place. It's as if the word has the bubonic plague attached to it. And if you think I'm a long-suffering Minnesota Wild fan, you'd be 1000% right. PEACE