Last month, the Hockey Hall of Fame unveiled its class of 2024, which consisted of five players — three in the male player category, two in the female player category — and two builders. Two of the male players, Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber, went in during their first year of eligibility. Jeremy Roenick had been eligible since 2012, or three years after he played his last official game as a professional with the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks. That’s a distinction that’s unique to the HHOF, because it takes into account players who continue to play professionally around the world, even after their NHL careers conclude.

So, for example, Datsyuk played five years in Russia after leaving the Detroit Red Wings following the 2015-16 season, which is why he wasn’t eligible for selection until this year. Jaromir Jagr, the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer, hasn’t played a game in the NHL since 2017-18, but he continues to play a handful of games every year for Kladno, the team he owns in Czechia. If Jagr finally stops playing this year, he’ll become eligible in 2027 — and he’ll be about as sure a thing as there is to a guaranteed first-ballot inductee.

That’s the thing about Hall of Fame debates. They generally aren’t too controversial at the top end.

GO DEEPER

How…

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Early in the summer of 1993, when Mike Modano went from being a baby-faced Minnesota North Stars stud to getting a letter in the mail instructing him to report for Dallas Stars training camp by Sept. 10, he never envisioned he’d ever touch back down in the Twin Cities permanently.

On May 22, with a wife and five children in tow, he landed here at 2 p.m.

By 6 p.m. that night, two of Mike and Allison Modano’s kids were already at soccer practice.

By the following week, their children, ranging from ages 3 to 9, were signed up for activities like hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis and dance.

The kids have met so many friends and love Minnesota so much, they recently asked their parents if they could relocate here from Arizona permanently.

“They thought we were just visiting,” Modano, who has worked for the Wild as an executive adviser since 2019, said, laughing.

Life has sure changed for the 53-year-old Hall of Famer and NHL’s all-time top U.S-born scorer (561 goals and 1,374 points).

Amazingly, though, Modano still has that baby face, still is in playing shape and still has the vigor of that fast, dynamic 23-year-old whom fans were crushed to see leave.

“What’s crazy is, he has more energy than I do,” said Allison Modano, 36, the former pro golfer and…

If you have questions about the future of your team’s live games on your local cable, satellite or digital provider, particularly those on Bally Sports channels, we’re here to answer with what we know so far.

Diamond Sports Group, the Baltimore-based corporate parent of the 19 Bally Sports channels that air 47 NBA, MLB, NHL and WNBA teams, announced Feb. 15 that it would skip a $140 million debt payment due that day and use the month-long grace period as part of its effort to financially reorganize itself.

Many observers interpret the move as a precursor to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, though that is not a certainty. Diamond has $8 billion-plus of debt, incurred as part of parent Sinclair’s 2019 purchase of the regional sports channels, and lost $1.2 billion in the most recent fiscal quarter.

“Certainly more likely that they will file bankruptcy because they did not make the payment,” said Schuyler Carroll, a bankruptcy attorney who is not connected to Diamond. “But not necessarily that they will file bankruptcy. They are still continuing discussions with their creditors to try and avoid bankruptcy. But those can often be difficult.”

Diamond in a Feb. 15 statement said it “intends to use the 30-day grace period to continue progressing its ongoing…