Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Colorado

Check back throughout the day as the Wild preps for its first home game of the 2016-17 preseason.
The Minnesota Wild will face off against the Colorado Avalanche tonight at 7 p.m. CT, marking the first time the two rivals will play each other in a preseason contest.

Minnesota will dress a mix of veterans and prospects for tonight's home preseason opener against Colorado, including six players who dressed for last night's 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Penn State's Pegula Ice Arena: forwards Jason Zucker, Ryan Carter, Alex Tuch, Kurtis Gabriel and Tyler Graovac and defenseman Mike Reilly. Tonight's game will also be forward Eric Staal's first in a Wild uniform.

"[Preseason games] are important," Carter said after an optional skate at Xcel Energy Center this morning. "They set the tone for the regular season."
Before the game, the team will hold a moment of silence for the late Walter Bush, who served as president of USA Hockey for nearly two decades and was a Minnesota native. It will also be Ryder Cup Night at Xcel Energy Center and the American Marshals, a group of golf enthusiasts who have traveled to every Ryder Cup since 2008, will make the "Let's Play Hockey!" call.
Tonight is also Bremer Bank College Night

The Wild went 4-0-1 against the Avalanche in the regular season last year, and it has been historically good against the Avs at home with an all-time record of 24-15-5 in Minnesota.
You can catch tonight's game on
FOX Sports G
or on KFAN 100.3. Check out tonight's game preview
here
.