FanHouse John Vanbiesbrouck

A crucial offseason, possibly the most significant in franchise history, is underway for the Minnesota Wild. Head coach Jacques Lemaire and general manager Doug Risebrough, the only people to ever hold those positions for the Wild, are both gone.

The process of finding a new general manager took precedent for owner Craig Leipold, and he made sure to take his time and get things right. After a series of interviews, and a list of candidates that included high-profile broadcaster Pierre McGuire, Leipold has settled on a front-office veteran with a track record of helping build winning teams.

While the US Hockey Hall of Fame doesn't have the same cache and prestige that the one in downtown Toronto, the honor of being inducted in the USHHOF is still something special for those involved.

This year's inductees are John "The Beezer" Vanbiesbrouck, who once led the third-year Florida Panthers to the Cup finals, Bobby Carpenter, a master checking forward who once scored 50 goals in a season, Aaron Broten, a member of the famous Broten clan, and former NCAA coach/builder John MacInnes.

As the Beezer is one of my all-time favorite players, I'm quite happy to see him get this honor. His chances are making the BIG HHOF are a bit iffy, so this might be the best he'll get.

"It's been a great progress, a time of progression, to see USA Hockey grow," Vanbiesbrouck said. "To see it grow in the light of where hockey is said to have started, and that's in Canada, but the presence of USA Hockey is universal. It's around the globe."

"I've had the opportunity with Aaron and Bobby to have played in many World Championships and Canada Cups, and every time we got together – even if we played on different teams – we really united by the bond of being American," he said. "And I think that is something that is constant in my life and I think about it all the time, the freedoms we live under. And so, it's truly a humbling time for me to sit here and to know I'm going into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as an American for my accomplishments."

If Beezer really wanted to contribute to the US HHOF, perhaps he should donate a few hundred to the shrine to get an actual working website.

For a full list of US HHOF inductees, click here.