Game Day Preview: Hurricanes @ Jets

Download the PDF Line-Up Card for tonight’s game here

When: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Where: MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Time: 7:30 p.m. CST

Media: Television (TSN), Radio (Sports Radio 1290)

Records: Winnipeg (2-3-0), Carolina (1-2-0)

The Story: The Winnipeg Jets play their second ever pre-season game at home tonight at the MTS Centre when the Carolina Hurricanes come rolling into town. The Jets returned home Tuesday after salvaging a three games-in-three-nights road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators in St.John’s, Newfoundland in front of 6,000-plus fans at the Mile One Centre. The Jets meet the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in four days and will look to avenge a 4-0 loss last Saturday night, a game that was played in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Jets made 20 cuts to their training camp roster Tuesday, including former Manitoba Moose forwards  Jason Jaffray and Marco Rosa, forward prospects Michael Forney, Riley Holzapfel, Eric O’Dell, Shayne Wiebe and John Albert, and defensemen Arturs Kulda, Cody Sol, Julian Melchiori and Mark Flood.   Goalies Edward Pasquale, Peter Mannino and Chris Carrozzi were also cut from training camp. The majority of the players will now report to the training camp of the St.John’s IceCaps of the American Hockey League.

There are currently 38 players left in training camp (3 players are on the injured reserve list) and the Jets are expected to cut their roster down to 25 players by next Monday. The Jets will be looking at certain players extra carefully, namely 2011 7th overall draft pick Mark Scheifele, who currently leads the Jets and the entire National Hockey League with three goals and three assists in three games. Although Scheifele still remains somewhat of a long shot to make the team, his performance over the past week has been nothing short of outstanding, even if its only the pre-season. Other players who are currently on the “bubble” include forwards Jason Gregoire, Carl Klingberg and Spencer Machacek while defenseman Paul Postma, who has five points in three pre-season games, is also looking to crack the Jets opening-day line-up as well.

Afternoon Update- The following players will not be in the line-up tonight: Spencer Machacek, Kyle Wellwood, Chris Thorburn, Tim Stapleton, Jim Slater, David Koci, Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom, Johnny Oduya and Paul Postma.

Tonight’s game will be the second last pre-season game for the Jets before they open the regular season on Sunday, October 9th at home against the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets last pre-season game is at home on Friday, September 30th against the Nashville Predators (Both games will be broadcast on TSN Jets and Sports Radio 1290).

Here are the complete rosters (with projected line combinations) for Winnipeg and Carolina for tonight’s game (line combinations for both teams are subject to change):

Winnipeg Jets Line-Up **UPDATED ROSTER

Goal
Chris Mason (starter)
Ondrej Pavelec

Defencemen
Brett Festerling Derek Meech

Randy Jones Zach Bogosian
Mark Stuart Ron Hainsey

Forwards
Andrew Ladd Bryan Little Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane Mark Scheifele Jason Gregoire
Janne Pesonen Alex Burmistrov Nik Antropov
Patrice Cormier Ben Maxwell Troy Bodie

Healthy Scratches: Spencer Machacek, Carl Klingberg, Chris Thorburn, Tim Stapleton, Kyle Wellwood, Jim Slater, Johnny Oduya, Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom, David Aebischer

** Jets line combinations subject to change before game-time.

Carolina Hurricanes *roster subject to change

Goal
Brian Boucher (starter)
Mike Murphy

Defencemen
Tomas Kaberle Jay Harrison
Bryan Allen Justin Faulk
Justin Krueger Ryan Murphy
Jamie McBain

Forwards
Jussi Jokinen Jeff Skinner Anthony Stewart
Drayson Bowman Brandon Sutter Jiri Tlusty
Brett Sutter Zach Boychuk Jerome Samson
Chris Durno Jon Matsumoto Patrick Dwyer

Extra Forwards: Zac Dalpe,Tim Brent, Riley Nash, Chris Terry

Not travelling with the team to Winnipeg: Eric Staal, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Cam Ward, Tim Gleason, Joni Pitkanen, Tuomo Ruutu, Chad LaRose

** Hat Tip to Canes Country Blog for roster.