(St. Paul, MN) -- The Minnesota Wild kick off the strike-shortened 48-game season tonight when they host the Colorado Avalanche. It is the first of a three-game homestand. Minnesota also faces Dallas on Sunday and Nashville on Tuesday. The Wild are excited to debut their two high profile off-season free agent acquisitions Zach Parise [[puh-ree-see]] and Ryan Suter [[SOO-ter]]. The puck drops tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center.