Wild preseason Game 1 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets preview/game thread

The preseason is finally here Wilderness. Tonight, the Wild take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7pm, at the Xcel Energy Center.

While you can't catch the game on TV, You will be able to hear the called on KFAN (100.3). They are also a member of "I heart Radio", so if you are in an area that does not get KFAN coverage, you should still be able to catch the game.

It should come as no surprise that the starts of the team are sitting out tonight. No Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, or Jonas Brodin. It looks like tonight will be about the kids, and the guys who are still battling for roster spots.

Interestingly, the line of Cooke-Brodziak-Mitchell is being split up. It looks like coach Mike Yeo may be trying to find a way to allow the Wild to have the 4 solid scoring lines most of us are hoping for.

Here are the projected lines for tonight:

Forwards

Matt Cooke -Charlie Coyle - Nino Niederreiter

Jason Zucker - Mikael Granlund - Justin Fontaine

Stephane Veilleux - Kyle Brodziak - Torrey Mitchell

Jake Dowell - David Steckel - Carson McMillan

Defensemen

Keith Ballard - Matt Dumba

Marco Scandella - Nate Prosser

Brian Connelly - Jonathon Blum

Goalies

Niklas Backstrom

Darcy Kuemper

Just a few housekeeping things before we jump into enjoying the game. Because it is the preseason, and the game isn't being televised, this will serve as the game day thread as well. I will be mostly updating the Hockey Wilderness twitter account (@hockeywildernes), with a few things making it on to my personal twitter. I'll do my best to add some period wrap ups, but we are counting on the community to update the thread as well.

Finally, hockey is back! Enjoy the game Wilderness.