Blues Open Preseason

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The Blues open their 2009 preseason schedule tonight at 7:00 from Scottrade center against Minnesota. Colorado and Dallas will pay similar visits on Friday and Saturday nights with matching 7:00 start times downtown.

This evening the Blues will feature two veteran forward lines as Andy McDonald, David Backes and David Perron will skate together as one unit while Paul Kariya, Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes will shift together in another.

Younger lines will include Chris Porter, Derek Armstrong and Aaron Palushaj (puh-LOU-shy) skating together while Ryan Reaves, Yan Stastny and Cam Janssen make up another unit.

Defensemen Erik Johnson, Steve Wagner, Darryl Sydor, Alex Petrangelo, Brendan Bell and Mike Weaver will dress.

Chris Mason starts in goal while Ben Bishop will suit up as a backup.

Notable scratches include backup goalie Ty Conklin, defensemen Roman Polak, Carlo Colaiacovo and Barret Jackman. Name Forwards watching from above will include T-J Oshie, Keith Tkachuk, Alex Steen, Brad Winchester, Jay McClement and B-J Crombeen.

The Wild will go with a very young lineup that will not include newly acquired forward Martin Havlat or Vezina Trophy finalist and netminder Niklaus Backstrom. Matthew Hackett, the nephew of former NHL goaltender Jeff Hackett will start in nets for the visitors. Hackett was a third round pick for Minnesota in June and boasted a 34-16-and-3 record with the Plymouth Whalers last season at the junior level in the OHL.

The Wild are now under the guidance of rookie head coach Todd Richards who promises a new up-tempo offense after missing the playoffs last season.

TPC