"It's a night for youngsters to put themselves in contention to unseat a veteran.

That's what you hope for in the pre-season opener.

Ultimately, it was the vets showing they're not going to give up a roster spot that easily in the Calgary Flames' 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks collection of wannabes, has-beens and never-will-bes Tuesday night at the Saddledome.

Oh sure, a couple of Flames youngsters made a good first impression in the pre-season opener.

Diminutive centre Paul Byron, who skated mainly on a line with Alex Tanguay and Rene Bourque, showed some of the offensive flair he's been advertised to have.

As well, 2008 first-round draft choice Greg Nemisz had a strong effort which went beyond the goal he netted in the first minute to open the scoring."