Now THAT was hockey. In a game that moved faster than a Bill Brown auction, the Calgary Flames almost -- almost -- tackled the wonderful Red Wings of Detroit. Led by Curtis Glencross and the Energizer Bunnies, the Flames' quicks kept the game close until Pavel Datsyuk undressed several prominent Flames to ice the 5-2 win.

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If this was a report-card game for Calgary, they get a B+ -- better than what IDLM had expected. The will to compete and the push in Detroit's end in a loss meant more than the two Colorado wins combined. The fly in the ointment? The Flames' impact players -- Jarome Iginla, Daymond Langkow, Todd Bertuzzi, Miikka Kiprusoff -- were negligible. Detroit's smothering Niklas Lidstrom swallowed up Iginla, while Kipper gave up two goals the old Miikka would have stopped. And how can Mike Keenan justify giving Bertuzzi (-9 plus/minus) 20 minutes of ice time on the top line when he has one goal since Oct. 25 and takes silly penalties?

Iggy will be back (prediction: he fights a King Tuesday night), but the message Saturday was clear. More time for young-and-restless forwards like Glencross, Matthew Lombardi and Rene Bourque. More speed. Less time in the penalty box. You'll need it in the next two weeks with games against the Canucks (two), Rangers, Canadiens, Stars and Red Wings.

Louie Lou-Ow!

Speaking of the Canucks, they're already five up on Calgary after 21 games and were looking like the NHL's biggest surprise in the West. Till Roberto Luongo's groin went pop in Pittsburgh. The team with no scoring is 7-4-1 on the road, one loss in regulation in the past 10 and (gasp) leads the Northwest in scoring. Plus, the Canucks still have loads of cap space to add help if a prize prospect shows up. It'll be fun to see if Calgary can carry its speed from Saturday into the back-to-backs this week against the high-pressure 'Nucks -- without Louie.

Tough Skedding

Everyone whined for a reduction in division games on the NHL schedule. But the more "balanced" sked has been surreal. When Vancouver leaves here Saturday, it'll have just one game left in Calgary this season. Colorado's already done its three at the 'Dome for 2008-09. Meanwhile, the Wild don't play the Flames till Dec. 17. Sixteen of the Flames' past 21 games are non-divisional tilts. How can you get a stretch run if there are virtually no games against divisional foes till the final three games?

Then there are mind-bending road trips. After a six-game trek to start the season, the Canucks played two in New York, then went west to Minnesota on Thursday before heading back east to play Pittsburgh on Saturday and home to face Detroit on Monday. The Oilers had a seven gamer that ranged from Nashville to Carolina, two games in the NYC area, before more stops in Columbus, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. And don't forget Calgary's seven-game Brier odyssey in March.

Point Shots

The mysteries of Colin Campbell's mind -- Isles defenceman Thomas Pock gets a five-game suspension for his elbow to the head of Ottawa's Ryan Shannon. But Mike Mottau of the Devils knocks Islander Franz Nielsen out for eight to 12 weeks with his own flagrant elbow and gets two games off . . . Brian Burke is expected to sign this week as chief cook and bottle washer for the Loafs. Wake IDLM when it's over . . . Don't look now, but Boston's on pace for a 125-point season. It's the best thing Tim Thomas has done since "Why Can't We Live Together" . . . Mats Sundin isn't skating yet, but he's taking more meetings than Barrack Obama . . . Former Flame Wade Belak was waived by Florida. Now who's Georges Laraque going to play with?