Hackett, Spurgeon Get The Call

With two injured goalies and six healthy defensemen, the Wild called up two players from the Houston Aeros this morning. Goaltender Matt Hackett was called up due to a hip injury to Jose Theodore. Hackett, in his first pro season with the Houston Aeros, is 10-10-1-1 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

Fellow Aero Anton Khudobin is expected to make his first NHL start of the season tonight for Minnesota, while Hackett will likely be the backup.

The Wild also recalled defenseman Jared Spurgeon from the Aeros. This will be the third callup for Spurgeon, who was last sent down on Monday. He’s played 15 games for the Wild this season and has not registered a point.

Wild Will Sign Three Tryout Players; Friday Lineup

It will be announced today that the Wild has signed three tryout defensemen that played in the Traverse City Prospects Tournament, and were later invited to training camp. Josh Caron, Colton Jobke and Jared Spurgeon all were signed to entry level contracts today.

Caron and Jobke are expected to be reassigned to their junior teams later today. Spurgeon will remain in the Wild training camp at least until the next reduction date.

Caron impressed Wild management in Traverse City with his toughness, and two big fights that energized his team. He will spend this season with Kamloops of the Western Hockey League. There, he’ll face fellow signee Jobke, who will skate for Kelowna of the WHL.

Assuming Spurgeon doesn’t make the big club, he’ll be sent to Houston Aeros training camp. While undersized at 5-foot-9, 175, Spurgeon has an offensive touch and was a key contributor on the power play in Traverse City.

The Wild is expected to reduce its roster to 43 later today. The Wild also released the roster for Friday’s preseason game in St. Louis.

Forwards: Almond, Brodziak, Bulmer, Cullen, DiSalvatore, Gillies, Kalus, Kassian, Latendresse, McMillan, Miettinen, Nystrom, Peters, Wellman

Defense: Barker, Cuma, Noreau, Prosser, Stoner, Zanon, Zidlicky.

Goalies: Harding and Hackett