I must admit, ti's a little strange-and exciting-to put Winnipeg in the headline. It's so good to have the Jets back in the league, and the Jackets are the team that gets to welcome them back to the NHL. Granted, it's only a preseason game (and a split-squad game at that) but a lot of people will take an interest in the result. Given the aura surrounding the return of the Jets, special considerations were taken into account when deciding on how to split the rosters. Generally, the Canadian coaches and players are heading to the 'Peg while the Americans and Euros stay in Columbus. Coach Arniel is a former Jet, so this should be an exciting moment for him. Here are the rosters:
Traveling to Winnipeg:
| Matt Calvert | Derick Brassard | Tomas Kubalik |
| Alexandre Giroux | Ryan Johansen | Derek Dorsett |
| Ryan Russell | Derek MacKenzie | Aaron Bogosian |
| Dane Byers | Martin St.Pierre | Cody Bass |
| Kris Russell | Dalton Prout |
| Grant Clitsome | Cody Goloubef |
| Aaron Johnson | Austin Madaisky |
| Curtis Sanford |
| Allen York |
Staying in Columbus:
| Vinny Prospal | Antoine Vermette | R.J. Umberger |
| Maksim Mayorov | Samuel Pahlsson | Jared Boll |
| Oliver Gabriel | Michael Chaput | Cam Atkinson |
| Dalton Smith | Boone Jenner | Lukas Sedlak |
| John Moore | James Wisniewski |
| Nick Holden | Radek Martinek |
| David Savard | Marc Methot |
| Mark Dekanich |
| Paul Dainton |
As you can see, the division of players by nationality isn't a rule, but generally the Western boys (outside of Gabriel) will be in Winnipeg. I love the look of the Moore-Wiz pairing, they would be dangerous on the man advantage. One player I'll be keying on this preseason is Tomas Kubalik- I think he's in line for a huge year, and he could even make the Jackets out of camp. I'm also eager to see what Dex is all about. He'll have a solid defense in front of him tomorrow.
Check back tomorrow for our game day coverage.