Preseason: Canucks 1 Flames 3

If this first exhibition game Tuesday was all about discovery for new Vancouver Canuck head coach Alain Vigneault, here's what he discovered:

Wade Flaherty can still play goal at age 38;

Brandon Reid can still make things happen after two years digesting European hockey culture;

Teenage blueliner Luc Bourdon will be just fine if he resists the temptation for risky business and self-analysis;

Lightweight Rick Rypien isn't afraid of anybody, even hombres as scary and tough as Flame super sophomore Dion Phaneuf.

Anybody else, coach?

"I loved Kevin Bieksa's game," said Vigneault after the Canucks dropped a 3-1 decision to the Flames in Vancouver's first of eight pre-season outings. "I thought he was really solid, he moved the puck well and had a good shot from the point. It was a good start for him. And, up front, Josh Green caught my attention."

Flaherty was perfect in his 30 minutes of work, turning away 11 shots, and looking very capable of handling a light workload behind all-world starter Roberto Luongo.

"It's early, it's the first exhibition game but I felt good and I felt comfortable," said the Langley resident. "It was a good start."

Solid #7 guy who can play the right side. Limited mobility, but physical and has a huge heart. Apparently he was really well-liked in the Sabres room and would be more valuable in the pre-lockout NHL than the new one. He's a guy whose effort you'll respect but who just doesn't quite have the tools to be anything more than a warm body in case of injury.

Has big upside, but hasn't shown anything yet. Had a hat trick in game 1 last year and I thought he was becoming the scorer the Wild desperately needed, but only scored 11 more in the remaining 81 games. Disappears for stretches of games and was an occassional healthy scratch. Good face off man...in a new system could become a decent 3rd line center.

We need heroes. But heroes need villains. They can't operate without `em.

In the ongoing Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames' melodrama, one heightened by over-familiarity and that visceral seven-game playoff series three springtimes ago, hockey fans in this city have regrettably lost four men they gleefully cast in the role of black hats.

And, to be honest, with the Canucks in town and doing a pretty fair impression of the Manitoba Moose, it just doesn't seem the same.

Jarkko Ruutu (Boo!) defected to Pittsburgh. Ed Jovanovski (Hiss!) wound up in that sun-soaked hockey boneyard that is the Arizona desert. Coach Marc Crawford (Boo!) walked a short plank, packed up the hair gel (but not in his carry-on) and left for L.A. And Todd Bertuzzi (Hissssssss!) was jettisoned to Florida, away from prying eyes, happily prepared for early retirement.

Canucks that people here loved to hate.

These were the men who, from a Calgary perspective, helped transform Vancouver into a nastier, more absorbing rival than even the Edmonton Oilers. Games to look forward to. A rivalry that helped make the dull nights somehow bearable.

Come back, guys. All is forgiven.