Predators vs. Jets Pre-Season Preview: Behold The Gold

by Dirk Hoag on Sep 24, 2011 9:42 AM EDT in Nashville Predators Game Previews

If you aren't able to join the festivities at Bridgestone Arena tonight (blood drive, plaza activities, and opportunity to donate to the Andie & Alex Belak Scholarship Fund start at 4:00), the Nashville Predators have announced that they'll offer a video stream of tonight's game (and Wednesday vs. Washington) on their website, so there's no excuse not to check out the team this evening. The puck drops shortly after 7:00 p.m., per usual.

Don't forget, it's also our first chance to look at the Preds in their new home gold uniforms.

Follow after the jump for the rosters heading into tonight's game, and assorted other notes...

Perhaps the most interesting area to watch tonight will be the defense, as behind the pairing of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter you'll have four guys who all conceivably could start the season in Nashville or Milwaukee. NHL jobs (and hundreds of thousands of dollars) are quite literally on the line over the next few days.

Nashville comes into this game with a 3-1 preseason record after last night's victory over the Hurricanes, while the Jets are 1-1, having split a home-and-home split squad set with Columbus a few days ago.

It looks like the Preds are rolling out the big guns for this one, with many regular NHLers on tonight's roster, including Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand, who played last night in Carolina, and Chris Mueller, who now has goals in three straight games.

It also appears that Nick Spaling will indeed make his preseason debut, after dealing with nagging injuries so far.

Nashville Predators Roster

NO.	FORWARDS	Height	Weight	Shoots	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
10	Martin Erat	6-0	201	L	Trebic, Czech Rep.	8/29/81	Nashville (NHL)
27	Patric Hornqvist	6-0	188	L	Sollentuna, Sweden	1/1/87	Nashville (NHL)
74	Sergei Kostitsyn	6-0	207	L	Novopolotsk, Belarus	3/20/87	Nashville (NHL)
11	David Legwand	6-2	204	L	Detroit, Mich.	8/17/80	Nashville (NHL)
17	Chris Mueller	5-10	180	R	West Seneca, N.Y.	3/6/86	Milwaukee (AHL)/Nashville (NHL)
16	Cal O`Reilly	6-0	188	L	Toronto, Ont.	9/30/86	Nashville (NHL)
25	Jerred Smithson	6-3	209	R	Vernon, B.C.	2/4/79	Nashville (NHL)
13	Nick Spaling	6-1	198	L	Palmerston, Ont.	9/19/88	Milwaukee (AHL)/Nashville (NHL)
21	Zack Stortini	6-4	215	R	Eliot Lake, Ont.	9/11/85	Edmonton (NHL)/Oklahoma City (AHL)
65	Ryan Thang	6-0	194	R	Chicago, Ill.	5/11/87	Milwaukee (AHL)
22	Jordin Tootoo	5-9	199	R	Churchill, Man.	2/2/83	Nashville (NHL)
33	Colin Wilson	6-1	210	L	Greenwich, Conn.	10/20/89	Nashville (NHL)

NO.	DEFENSE	Height	Weight	Shoots	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
42	Mattias Ekholm	6-4	204	L	Borlange, Sweden	5/24/90	Brynas (Sweden)
49	Ryan Ellis	5-10	179	R	Hamilton, Ont.	1/3/91	Windsor (OHL)/Milwaukee (AHL)
2	Teemu Laakso	6-1	215	R	Tuusula, Finland	8/27/87	Milwaukee (AHL)/Nashville (NHL)
38	Jack Hillen	5-10	190	L	Minnetonka, Minn.	1/24/86	NY Islanders (NHL
20	Ryan Suter	6-1	198	L	Madison, Wis.	1/21/85	Nashville (NHL)
6	Shea Weber	6-4	232	R	Sicamous, B.C.	8/14/85	Nashville (NHL)

NO.	GOALTENDER	Height	Weight	Catches	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
35	Pekka Rinne	6-5	209	L	Kempele, Finland	11/3/82	Nashville (NHL)
37	Chet Pickard	6-2	206	L	Moncton, N.B.	11/29/89	Milwaukee (AHL)/Cincinnati (ECHL)

Winnipeg Jets Roster

NO.	FORWARDS	Height	Weight	Shoots	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
20	Troy Bodie	6-3	219	R	Portage La Prairie, M.B.	1/25/1985	Anaheim (NHL)/ Carolina (NHL)
28	Patrice Cormier	6-2	215	L	Moncton, N.B.	6/14/1990	Atlanta (NHL)/ Chicago (AHL)
57	Jason Gregoire	6-1	196	L	Winnipeg, M.B.	2/24/1989	U. of North Dakota (WCHL)
9	Evander Kane	6-2	195	L	Vancouver, B.C.	8/2/91	Atlanta (NHL)
48	Carl Klingberg	6-3	205	R	Gothenburg, Sweden	1/28/1991	Vastra Frolunda (SEL)
18	Bryan Little	5-11	185	R	Edmonton, Alb.	11/12/87	Atlanta (NHL)
46	Spencer Machacek	6-1	195	R	Lethbridge, Alb.	10/14/1988	Chicago (AHL)/ Atlanta (NHL)
49	Ben Maxwell	6-1	195	L	North Vancouver, B.C.	3/30/1988	Hamilton (AHL)/ Atlanta (NHL)
40	Kendal McArdle	5-11	190	L	Toronto, Ont.	1/4/1987	Florida (NHL)/ Rochester (AHL)
49	Mark Scheifele	6-2	181	R	Kitchener, Ont.	3/15/1993	Barrie (OHL)
14	Tim Stapleton	5-9	180	R	Forest Park, Ill.	7/19/82	Atlanta (NHL)/ Chicago (AHL)
22	Chris Thorburn	6-3	230	R	Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.	6/3/83	Atlanta (NHL)

NO.	DEFENSE	Height	Weight	Shoots	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
63	Ben Chiarot	6-3	224	L	Hamilton, Ont.	5/9/1991	Saginaw (OHL) / Sudbury (OHL)
39	Tobias Enstrom	5-10	180	L	Nordingra, Sweden	11/5/84	Atlanta (NHL)
47	Derek Meech	5-11	205	L	Winnipeg, M.B.	4/21/84	Grand Rapids (AHL)
71	Julian Melchiori	6-4	209	L	Richmond Hill, Ont.	12/6/1991	Kitchener (OHL)
29	Johnny Oduya	6-0	190	L	Stockholm, Sweden	10/1/81	Atlanta (NHL)
38	Paul Postma	6-3	195	R	Red Deer, Alb.	2/22/1989	Chicago (AHL)/ Atlanta (NHL)
64	Cody Sol	6-5	242	L	Woodstock, Ont.	2/11/1991	Kitchener (OHL)

NO.	GOALTENDER	Height	Weight	Catches	Place of Birth	Birthdate	2010-11 Team
50	Chris Mason	6-0	195	L	Red Deer, Alb.	4/20/76	Atlanta (NHL)
32	Edward Pasquale	6-3	210	L	Toronto, Ont.	11/20/90	Chicago (AHL)/ Gwinnett (ECHL)

For more on tonight's game from the opposing side, be sure to check out SB Nation's blog devoted to the Winnipeg Jets...

Courtesy of Earl Sleek.

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Comments

No Jon Blum?

If I hit a hole-in-one on this grand slam the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.

by jasonkylebates on Sep 24, 2011 10:24 AM EDT reply actions

and no Kevin Klein

by Only Fan In J.C. ? on Sep 24, 2011 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

No Bergfors....

by JBoogie22 on Sep 24, 2011 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions

and no Craig Smith or Gabriel Bourque

by Only Fan In J.C. ? on Sep 24, 2011 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

And no Bill Houlder.

World Wide Weber.
There is no tenderness or humanity in fanaticism.
~Joe Strummer

by cisar on Sep 24, 2011 1:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Or Marian Cisar.

by DonBorvio on Sep 24, 2011 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Where have you gone, Sergei Krikokrasov, our first All Star?

by Hockey Hillbilly on Sep 24, 2011 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions

he was my first favorite Pred, back when i was a mere 11 years old in ’98. jeez, seems like ages ago…

now we have a new Sergei, another one of my Pred faves. SK74!!!

by JBoogie22 on Sep 24, 2011 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

We could be the same person. Although I am not sure yet.

by Preds Fanatic on Sep 24, 2011 6:35 PM EDT via iPhone app up reply actions

We could be the same person. Although I am not sure yet.

by JBoogie22 on Sep 24, 2011 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions

We could be the same person. Although I am not sure yet.

by JBoogie22 on Sep 24, 2011 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Competition at D

I like the way Trotz set up the rosters for yesterday and today’s games. Blum and Klein yesterday with 5 on the bubble (Ellis, Ekholm, Hillen, Laakso, Sloan). Tonight, Weber-Suter with 4 on the bubble (Ellis, Ekholm, Hillen, Laakso). You’d think Trotz will have a good idea which direction he’s going after tonight. Especially since the Milwaukee camp starts next week.

At Forward, Chris Mueller is making a statement. With our depth at Center, Trotz will have to make some tough decisions.

As a fan, I love the competition for roster spots. I remember back to the early days of the franchise when we didn’t have this depth and talent from the young players.

by Griz-ATL on Sep 24, 2011 10:50 AM EDT reply actions

i too love that there is a battle for positions on the preds, and the players are making it tough on trotz. it also means no slacking as a pred after the season starts as there are guyss ready for your spot.

what do you think of breaking up weber and suter tonight?

by predwheels on Sep 24, 2011 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

I would be interested to see if Trotz matches up Weber and Ellis that would be cool to see one a pp. I am disappointed because I wanted to see what Craig Smith could do.

by Shadow23 on Sep 24, 2011 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions