After missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the past three seasons, the Calgary Flames are looking to right the ship.
As of this writing (Sunday afternoon, November 17), the Flames are on the right path to doing just that. The team is currently fourth in the Pacific Division, tied for sixth in the Western Conference, and 13th in the league with a record of 9-6-0-3 (21 points).
One of the main reasons the Flames are off to a solid start is due to the play of rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf. Wolf, 23, is currently 6-2-0-1 with a 2.53 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage, and one shutout.
What is also impressive is Wolf’s analytical statistics. According to NHL Edge, Wolf’s .871 save percentage in high-danger situations is in the 95th percentile, which is well above the league average (.809).
There are several reasons why Wolf is off to a great start this season. For starters, he is a good goaltender in general.
Wolf has accomplished the following as a professional goaltender:
- AHL All-Rookie Team (2022)
- AHL First All-Star Team (2022, 2023)
- Aldege “Baz” Bastien Award, which is given to the AHL’s Outstanding Goaltender (2022 and 2023)
- Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, which is given to the goaltender who has allowed the fewest goals against in the AHL. (2023)
- Les Cunningham Award, which is given to the AHL’s most valuable player (2023)
Yes, the AHL is not the NHL, but it is the second-best professional hockey league in the world and one that Wolf dominated. This is why the Flames called him up in April of 2023.
Secondly, Wolf is already one of the most agile goaltenders in the NHL, partly because he is only 6 feet, 166 pounds. He is great at going post-to-post, can put himself in a good position to stop second and third opportunities with his quick reflexes, and also has a great glove hand.
“When he is on, he beats the play a lot so he’s in position and he makes hard saves look relatively easy,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “Then it’s the rebound control. He seems to know where he’s putting them when he’s on. But I think his biggest strength is how he reads the play. He arrives, a lot of times, on his feet, when most goaltenders would be sliding over to make a save.”
Another reason why Wolf is having success this season is because he plays big between the pipes despite being on the smaller side when it comes to goaltenders in the NHL. In the same article linked above, Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar says that Wolf stands tall in the net.
‘Wolfie’ might be small,” Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said, “but he plays really big.
“He’s quick in the net. He sees the puck well, he moves the puck well. He’s got a lot of confidence in his game. He’s calm back there. You knew that he was going to be an NHL goaltender at some time. I thought, you know, they did a good job keeping him down in the minors, getting his confidence up, and obviously winning a ton down there does a lot for a goalie. So, you know right away. He’s a hell of a goalie. He’s a great teammate, great player and we’re lucky to have him.”
Lastly, Wolf is playing with a lot of confidence right now. He knows that he has had success at every level he has played at whether it was in the AHL or CHL.
Now, Wolf is finding success at the NHL level, which is a whole other ball game. He is showing that he can be consistent, that he can win games in the best hockey league in the world, and that he can be the main man in goal for this franchise moving forward.
That last sentiment is something that Huska agrees with as he tells Vickers that Wolf’s ceiling could be high.
“We knew all along what he was coming up,” Huska said. “He was the best goalie in the CHL a couple of years running. And then when he came here, you know he’s going to start in the American League, you wonder what he’s going to be like and he continued to do the same thing. So I think when you saw him put in the performances in the American League like he was in junior, it starts you thinking for sure what this guy might be capable of.”
There is still a lot of hockey left to be played, but it is hard not to like the kind of goaltending that Wolf is giving the Flames right now. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up the rest of the way and help propel the Flames back into the postseason come April.
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