Blues at Wild Preseason Preview/GameDay Thread

One of the beauties of preseason hockey is that none of it counts. Not last night’s 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, nor the previous game’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Heck, even tonight against the Wild is meaningless in terms of standings.

The games may not count, but they do matter. Coaches are looking at players to evaluate placement on lines and who gets the last roster spots. Players want to make a good impression - and many have so far this preseason. It’s still hockey, it’s still something to watch, and tonight if you have ESPN+ you’ll actually be able to view tonight’s matchup between the Wild and the Blues. You can also listen to Chris Kerber and Joey Vitale’s call on ESPN 101.

The problem is that there seems to be something else going on around the same time tonight. Fans will have to choose between meaningless hockey and a very meaningful baseball game for the Cardinals. If you’re not a baseball person, tonight’s game will be a fun watch; if you are a baseball person, well, there’s another option for you to watch if the Cardinals don’t give Adam Wainwright a good start.

Clearly, the coaching staff knew where St. Louisans’ eyes would be tonight, because while last night’s lineup was close to NHL worthy, tonight is clearly another chance for some people to make a good impression. Tonight’s projected line-up, via stlblues.com:

Forwards

Ivan Barbashev - Tyler Bozak - James Neal

Klim Kostin - Logan Brown - Sam Anas

Nathan Walker - Nikita Alexandrov - Michael Frolik

Kyle Clifford - Dakota Joshua - Mackenzie MacEachern

Defense

Jake Walman - Robert Bortuzzo

Niko Mikkola - Scott Perunovich

Calle Rosen - Steven Santini

Goalies

Ville Husso

Colten Ellis