Jets heading down the road to play Minnesota in first of five games this season

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets and next-door Minnesota Wild will kick off a long relationship Thursday, when they play the first of many games now that they are in the same NHL division.

There’s been a lot of talk about a natural rivalry but Jets coach Claude Noel says they have to play a little bit first.

This season the two teams will meet five times.

Jets forward Devin Setoguchi knows the Wild well, after playing two seasons with them before being traded to Winnipeg.

He says they play a structured north-south game and work hard.

But he says the Jets aren’t spending much time thinking about how the Wild will play, they’re focused on their own game.