Minnesota Wild To Face Winnipeg Jets In Preseason Action
By Scott Drain
Feb 16, 2012; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Nick Johnson (25) hits Winnipeg Jets defenseman Johnny Oduya (29) during the second period at the Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Wild face the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre in Winnipeg. This is the second preseason game for the Wild and the 4th for the Jets. The Wild are 0-1 on the preseason, while Winnipeg is 1-1-1. The Wild have taken 22 players on the trip up north for the opener of a home and home preseason series. The Back end is Saturday when the same two teams clash at the Excel Energy Center. Tonight will be the first time these two teams meet as divisional foes under the realignment for this season. The Wild have not announced their specific line up while the Jets are going with a veteran lineup including former Wild Devin Setoguchi, Jets Captain Andrew Ladd, Olli Jokinen, Zach Bogosian and Dustin Byfuglien.
The players on the trip, according to WILD.com and some possible line combinations are:
Forward Lines:
Nino Niederreiter – Charle Coyle – Dany Heatley
Justin Fontaine – Mikael Granlund – Erik Haula
Kris Foucault – Zenon Konopka – Carson McMillan
Torrey Mitchell – Kyle Brodziak – Stephane Veilleux
Extra Forward: Zack Phillips
Defense:
Clayton Stoner – Mathew Dumba
Jonathon Blum – Nate Prosser
Steven Kampfer – Kyle Medvec
Extra Defenseman: Jon Landry
Goal Tenders
Josh Harding
Darcy Kuemper
This will be a lineup packed with young guys still fighting for a spot on the opening night roster. In addition there are veteran forwards including Dany Heatley, Zenon Konopka, Kyle Brodziak, Torrey Mitchell and Stephane Veilleux. Tonight marks Dany Heatley‘s return to action, he’s been out since injuring a shoulder late last season. The defense is comprised of young players with none of the Wild’s top defenders on the trip. I’m looking for a physical, up tempo game tonight. The Wild will have a mountain to climb and it’s goig to be interesting how this younger lineup fares against the Jets. Look for Zenon Konopka to get his first fight of the season in as well. I’m sure somebody will challenge him or he’ll need to prevent some player on the Jets from running around taking liberties with the Wild’s youngsters. One player who will not be in uniform tonight is Jason Zucker who suffered a groin injury in the 1st period of Tuesdays game against Columbus. Tonight’s game is not being televised but, I’ll be back after the action with a recap of the evenings activities right here on GonePuckWild.com. Until then this is Scott Drain saying, “Let’s Go Wild!”