6pm CT – Winnipeg Jets @ Columbus Blue Jackets – Nationwide Arena
7:30pm CT – Columbus Blue Jackets @ Winnipeg Jets – MTS Centre
You ready for this? I mean, really ready? The boys are back in town, and they get to cut their teeth on the Columbus Blue Jackets in our home, the MTS Centre. Booyah. We’re going to see Dustin Byfuglien crushing forwards and blasting shots, Zach Bogosian darting around and playing that tough physical game (potential bonus? Maybe doing good things with the puck), Ondrej Pavelec committing larceny, Nik Antropov…looking really tall.
The only unfortunate thing is that this is more of a preseason doubleheader, with split squads. So the Winnipeg faithful won’t get a look at Evander Kane in MTS, or Blake Wheeler, or Spencer Machacek, or Chris Mason, or Zach Redmond. Follow after the jump for the complete rosters for tonight.
Stick tap to Illegal Curve; Michael Remis put together a lineup card for the MTS Centre game (including both Jets and Blue Jackets rosters), so be sure to visit and print it out.
| In Columbus | In Winnipeg | |||||
| # | Player | Pos | # | Player | Pos | |
| 6 | Ron Hainsey | D | 1 | David Aebischer | G | |
| 9 | Evander Kane | LW | 4 | Zach Bogosian | D | |
| 12 | Randy Jones | D | 5 | Mark Stuart | D | |
| 14 | Tim Stapleton | C,RW | 8 | Alexander Burmistrov | C | |
| 15 | Tanner Glass | LW | 16 | Andrew Ladd | LW | |
| 19 | Jim Slater | C | 20 | Troy Bodie | RW | |
| 22 | Chris Thorburn | RW | 24 | Janne Pesonen | RW | |
| 26 | Blake Wheeler | RW | 28 | Patrice Cormier | C,LW | |
| 34 | Peter Mannino | G | 31 | Ondrej Pavelec | G | |
| 36 | Mark Flood | D | 33 | Dustin Byfuglien | D | |
| 40 | Kenndal McArdle | LW | 38 | Paul Postma | D | |
| 41 | Jason Jaffray | C | 44 | Arturs Kulda | D | |
| 43 | Riley Holzapfel | C | 45 | Mark Scheifele | C | |
| 46 | Spencer Machacek | RW | 49 | Ben Maxwell | C,LW | |
| 47 | Derek Meech | D | 52 | Ivan Telegin | LW | |
| 48 | Carl Klingberg | LW | 53 | Brett Festerling | D | |
| 50 | Chris Mason | G | 57 | Jason Gregoire | RW | |
| 59 | Zach Redmond | D | 76 | Shayne Wiebe | C,LW | |
| 62 | Travis Ramsey | D | 77 | Kevin Clark | RW | |
| 70 | John Albert | C | 80 | Nik Antropov | C,RW |
Sara Orlesky tweeted the forward lines in practice for the game in the 'Peg; don't take too much stock in preseason lines (coaches are feeling certain players out), but FYI, listed LW-C-RW:
Andrew Ladd – Nik Antropov – Janne Pesonen
Shayne Wiebe – Alexander Burmistrov – Jason Gregoire
Ben Maxwell – Mark Scheifele – Kevin Clark
Ivan Telegin – Patrice Cormier – Troy Bodie
Some very interesting things going on; it looks like Burmistrov and Antropov are both being given time at centre, so we'll see if the plan is to audition Burmi for the 2nd line centre position against Antro. Seeing Gregoire on the right wing is not the worst thing in the world, as position flexibility could land him with the big club sooner rather than later. Kevin Clark is a bit of an unknown, but also a local boy who played for the Manitoba Moose last year. It's highly unlikely he'll stick with the Jets.
Things to Watch:
- Jason Gregoire. He played very well in the Young Stars Tourney, and this is the next level of competition. If his game holds up as well as it did in Penticton, he’ll could be a fun player to watch in Winnipeg.
- Janne Pesonen is a bit of a wild card, a smallish winger who’s done his time in the SM-Liiga and KHL. He’s been prolific in Finland and the AHL, but it’s mostly a shot-in-the-dark. Might make the 4th line.
- Like Gregoire, it’ll be interesting to see if Scheifele’s weaknesses show up stronger against Columbus. His skating was definitely a question mark after seeing him in Young Stars. Hands and passing were great, though.
- Fans will also get a good look at top Jets prospect Paul Postma. The 22-year old defenceman is an offence-savvy player who can be a bit of an adventure in his own end. He’s like a skinny Byfuglien.
Prediction:
6pm game – Jets 1, Blue Jackets 3
7:30pm game – Jets 4, Blue Jackets 1
Go Jets Go!
