Vanek was either struggling to pay or a deadbeat

The Wild fan base always can be counted on to see no wrong in matters involving one of its athletes. Throw in the fact Thomas Vanek was the star of a Gophers' national championship team and the public's attempt to whitewash the business he conducted with a high-stakes gambling ring is hilarious.

Of course, this was also the reaction of the team and the NHL: We have a player here signing over a paycheck for $230,000 to a gent about to go to jail for nine years for money laundering and the hockey honchos say, "What's the problem?''

As long as Vanek was betting on NFL and college football games, and not the NHL, there's nothing wrong here.

I mean, it says right there in the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the players, "Gambling on any NHL game in prohibited.'' There are no other restrictions.

So, basically, Vanek could have wagered $100,000 on his Gophers in the NCAA Frozen Four title game vs. Union last April, and it wouldn't have been a problem.

Come to think about it, that could have been what helped get Vanek into the Rochester, N.Y. bookmaking ring for what a defense attorney has suggested was over a million bucks.

I'm making a joke about that, see, but the real joke is the NHL suggesting it has no problem with hefty paychecks issued by a league entity winding up in the hands of money launderers.

If you're making as much money as Vanek was making, and you can afford it, what difference does it make?

That's what makes this the real … OK ,money quote for me, the one from Steve Bartlett, Vanek's agent, in Mike Russo's piece that ran in the Star Tribune:

[Bartlett] acknowledged to the Star Tribune that the check was endorsed over to the men by Vanek "to get them off his back.''

Question: If losing something between $230,000 and the other side of a million bucks wasn't a financial problem for Vanek, why were the men with whom Vanek was betting required to get on his back in order for the NHL player to cover his losses?

That's the "contract'' between gamblers and bookmakers. If you win, you get paid in a timely manner. If you lose, you pay them, also in a timely manner.

Wild bigwigs have been complete cowards in not commenting on this. Vanek has offered only clichés and the claim that he no longer gambles.

No need for that, Thomas. If you want to make a bet, make a bet. As long as you're not betting on NHL games, the league doesn't care, your employers don't care, and your team's fans don't care.