From the Rink: Minnesota boys have strong memories of Mauer

Greetings from snowy St. Paul, where the Wild and Philadelphia Flyers will duel this evening at Xcel Energy Center.
It is indeed snowy St. Paul, hometown Twins legend Joe Mauer, that will host its local hero tonight as the Wild honors the legendary career of one of the best catchers to ever play professional baseball prior to tonight's contest.
The Wild's roster is chock-full of Minnesotans with plenty of memories watching Mauer either play baseball, or in the case of Matt Hendricks, compete against Mauer during his days at Cretin-Derham Hall High School.

Hendricks and Mauer went head-to-head on the gridiron, with Hendricks playing quarterback for the Blaine Bengals and Mauer quarterbacking Cretin during the 1999 state tournament.

"He was by far the best player in the state of Minnesota, if not, the Upper Midwest," Hendricks said. "All-American high school player. He was something for the state of Minnesota, that's for sure.
"I kind of sound like I have a man-crush on him, but I don't. And I want everyone to know that."
Perhaps the reason no man-crush exists? Mauer's Raiders beat Hendricks' Bengals in the state tournament that year, a loss that still sits with Hendricks to this day.
Later that school year, Hendricks' Blaine boys hockey team won the Class AA state championship. Had his football team been able to get by Mauer's Cretin squad, it might have made for one heck of a senior year, especially when it comes to the trophy case.
The Wild will wear special warmup jerseys tonight, emblazoned with Mauer's name and No. 7 on the back with the Twins script logo on the front.
Tweet from @ZachParise: Glad my first tweet could be about celebrating the career of our friend Joe Mauer. We will be wearing these sweaters during warmups tonight to honor what he did for this state. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/BrpJ27MEun
The jerseys will be autographed and auctioned to benefit Crescent Cove and the Minnesota Wild Foundation. The auction will close March 1. Joe and his wife, Maddie, are Crescent Cove Ambassadors, helping spread awareness about the organization in the community. Crescent Cove offers care and support to children and young adults with a shortened life expectancy, and their families who love them.
Hendricks says there will be no animosity, considering their past, and that he'll wear the Mauer jersey proudly.
"What a career he's had," Hendricks said. "I'm happy for him. I hope he finds joy in his retirement."
Like Mauer, Wild goaltender Alex Stalock was also a multi-sport athlete in high school, playing football in addition to hockey at South St. Paul.

"Florida State wasn't knocking on my door at the time," Stalock said of his football glory days. "But you have to give credit to the athlete he was. He was a stud in all three sports (Mauer was also a standout basketball player) and it's a pretty cool career to be able to play in your hometown for that whole time."

In case you missed it

Here is today's
Wild Warmup
Because of the weather, Tuesday's morning skate was very optional. Coach Bruce Boudreau will address the media pre-game at 5 p.m., but here were his thoughts following practice on Monday at TRIA Rink

The latest edition of
Down on the Farm
chronicles the season of Iowa defenseman Gustav Bouramman, who is honing his defensive skills in an effort for increased ice time
Wild TV caught up with defenseman Anthony Bitetto while in New York over the weekend. Bitetto grew up just 20 miles from Barclays Center, where the Wild and Islanders played on Sunday afternoon

Here is a look at what the Wild could look like tonight against the Flyers:
Zach Parise - Mikael Granlund - Charlie Coyle
Jordan Greenway - Eric Staal - Jason Zucker
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Luke Kunin
Kyle Rau - Victor Rask - Eric Fehr
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Anthony Bitetto
Nick Seeler - Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Philadelphia will be playing the second half of back-to-back games following a 4-1 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
Since defeating the Wild 7-4 in Philadelphia on Jan. 14, the Flyers have posted a record of 9-1-1.
Claude Giroux leads the Flyers offensively with 43 assists and 59 points. Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek each have 48 points with Couturier leading the club with 23 goals.
Goaltender Carter Hart started against the Penguins on Monday, which could indicate Anthony Stolarz will get the nod on Tuesday. Stolarz has started nine games and is 3-3-3 with a 3.26 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
The Flyers could lineup like this:
James van Riemsdyk - Claude Giroux - Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek
Scott Laughton - Nolan Patrick - Wayne Simmonds
Phil Varone - Mikhail Vorobyov - Michael Raffl
Ivan Provorov - Travis Sanheim
Andrew MacDonald - Shayne Gostisbehere
Robert Hagg - Radko Gudas
Anthony Stolarz
Carter Hart
Watching/listening to tonight's game:
If you're attending tonight's game, here's what's going on: