The great thing about kicking off a fresh season is getting to see the new faces around the league. In Calgary, that focus is naturally on training camp wonder Roman Horak.

The 20-year-old Czech centre won a job during the pre-season and is with the Flames to stay. He’ll have to play himself off the team to see the sights of Abbotsford. But I’m intrigued more by the fresh performances of a couple of other Flames.

The first is centre Mikael Backlund, who will miss up to six weeks of the Flames season with a finger injury. After watching the 22-year-old Swede through his first 100 NHL games, I was convinced he was a career second-liner. I didn’t think he had first-line pedigree or creativity to match other top centres in the league.

But after watching him through a handful of pre-season games, I’ve noticed Backlund’s doing something differently. He’s using his speed more efficiently. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but on several occasions I’ve seen him skate with the puck more toward open ice – rather than toward the net. This added patience not only thins out the defence, it allows his linemates to find open ice or move to scoring areas.

A younger Backlund typically dished off the puck or tried to skate around defenders. Is he growing up? No player in the history of the game skated to open ice better than Wayne Gretzky. Nice to see Backlund moving in that direction, even though he’ll be out of the lineup until mid-November.

Another player who I think is bound for a big season is winger Lee Stempniak, acquired from Phoenix for Daymond Langkow. Given the opportunity to play on the top two lines with a playmaking centre such as Brendan Morrison, Stempniak will surely return to 20-goal form and perhaps hit 30. He’s had seasons of 27 (2006-07) and 28 goals (2009-10).

Stempniak is also an excellent skater and likes to get involved physically -he was fourth among Coyote forwards in hits last season.

Of all the deals Flames GM Jay Feaster has made so far, dumping Daymond Langkow’s $4.5-million contract for Stempniak’s $1.9 million was the best. Calgary was doing OK in terms of playmaking centres. Getting another goal-scoring winger will prove invaluable.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Flames do with the unheard luxury of three scoring lines. Let the games begin.