In news that will shock no one, Dustin Wolf was named as one of the three finalists for the Calder trophy this season. The Flames rookie puck-stopper had a breakout 24-25 season, appearing in a total of 53 games with a record of 29-16, with eight of his losses coming in extra time and posting a GAA of 2.64 and a SP of .910 to go along with 3 shutouts. Although Dustin had previously participated in 18 games prior to this year, one in 22-23 (1-0, 1.00 GAA, .958 SP) and 17 in 23-24 (7-7 3.16 GAA, .893 SP), he certainly made his rookie campaign count as the longer the Flames stayed in playoff contention, the more he played, and the more he was noticed by both the pundits and the rest of the league.
Just for reference, the rookie eligibility is: a player must not have played more than 25 NHL games in any preceding season, or in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons. Additionally, they must not have turned 26 years old by September 15th of the season in which they are eligible. Although people outside of the Flames fan base may not have seen his rise coming, it’s not like there haven’t been signs from the 24-year-old’s career that foreshadowed his rise, despite the relentless questions about his size in “today’s” NHL. Those questions have existed since he was a standout junior in the WHL, playing for the Everett Silvertips in 4 seasons. Want to see some gaudy numbers? In the four seasons, he posted the following stat lines:
| Season | GP | GAA | SV% | GA | SV | SO | W-L-T |
| 17-18 | 20 | 2.25 | .928 | 43 | 554 | 4 | 13-6-0 |
| 18-19 | 61 | 1.69 | .936 | 102 | 1493 | 7 | 41-15-4 |
| 19-20 | 46 | 1.88 | .935 | 85 | 1231 | 9 | 34-10-2 |
| 20-21 | 22 | 1.80 | .940 | 39 | 609 | 4 | 18-3-0He |
He also represented his country in the World Juniors twice in his junior career, earning a shutout in his only start of his second stint:
| Season | GP | GAA | SV% | GA | SV | SO | W-L-T |
| 19-20 | 1 | 3.00 | .850 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 1-0-0 |
| 20-21 | 2 | 0.0.0 | 1.000 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 1-0-0 |
Numbers like these would lead one to believe that Dustin would be a highly sought-after tendy who would earn a high draft pick, right? Unfortunately for Dustin, but fortunately for the Flames, the questions about his size, or more specifically, his lack thereof, had already become almost deafening. In total, 22 goalies were selected in the 2019 draft. 21 were selected ahead of him. He was the last puck-stopper in line, and as the 214th pick in the 7th round, was the 4th last player selected overall. It likely wasn’t the dream scenario, but instead of focusing on what might have been.
He took it as a challenge and made it his mission to prove his detractors wrong. At the end of his career with Everett, he had these awards to display on his mantle, but people still considered him “undersized” and unlikely to make an impact at the NHL level: CHL Goaltender of the Year (2020), WHL West First All-Star Team (2019, 2020), WHL U.S. Division Player of the Year (2021).
He didn’t break stride at all when he became a pro, posting a 33-9-5 record in his first season with the Stockton Heat, leading the club to the Western Conference final of the Calder Cup Playoffs. In those 47 games, he sported a .924 save percentage and was named to the AHL’s all-rookie team, a First Team all-star, and won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien award as the league’s top goaltender. Not bad for an undersized rookie.
Then, just to put an exclamation mark on his rookie AHL campaign, he followed that season by being even better playing in 55 games with a record of 42-10-2, with a 2.09 GAA, .932 SV%, and 7 shutouts, leading the league in all categories. He repeated as the Aldege “Baz” Bastien winner, won the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for fewest GAA, and became just the 8th goalie in league history to win the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s MVP. Not too shabby for a kid who wasn’t big enough to be a goalie.
Yet the questions still remained as he was to make the jump to the Flames after they opened the door wide open by trading their previous franchise goalie, Jacob Markstrom, to the Devils. Of course, at the time, it was postulated that Dustin would likely be eased in as the Flames had Dan Vladar, who could at least share the load if not be the main puck-stopper if things didn’t go well. In fact, on the first day of free agency, the Flames even signed a 6’5 insurance plan in Devin Cooley just in case things went sideways… And besides… The Flames were in rebuild mode anyway, so even if Dustin had some growing pains, and the team struggled… It wouldn’t be terrible because they would earn a higher draft pick, right?
It started slowly. Vladar and Wolf basically splitting games for the first few months, and Dan actually getting the stronger opponents, or the second half of back-to-back starts through November. From October 4th to December 1st, Dustin had started 13 games, and Dan 12. That’s about as even as you can get for the first two months. Incidentally, Wolf had an 8-4-1, and Vladar was 4-5-3, but as mentioned above, Vladar had faced the more difficult assignments initially and together, they were playing well enough to give their team a chance to not just compete on a nightly basis, but possibly even challenge for a playoff spot, which was unthinkable just a couple months prior.
Even in December, the Flames kept up the even split with both netminders getting 6 starts, but this was the month where Wolf was starting to get some murmurs from fans and media alike that maybe he should be the #1 and get the reins. Overall in December, Wolf had a 4-1-1 record, and Vladar was 2-2-2. The new year led to a conscious decision to do just that, as in January, Wolf started 10 of the Flames 13 games. In those games, he had a 7-3 record with a .922 SV% and a 2.32 GAA. Unfortunately, Vladar was winless in his 3 starts. This was when Dustin started earning attention across the league as a potential Calder nominee and had people believing that JUST maybe… the Flames could reach the post-season.
Unfortunately that ultimately wasn’t the case, but it did signify an incredible change in attitude and direction for a fan-base that for the most part started the season just hoping they would be bad enough to not have to give up their first round pick to Montreal, a consequence of the trade that saw Sean Monahan moved to the Canadiens in the summer of 2022. Not that the Flames wanted to give that pick up, but the results of last season, and the culture the team looks to have built, along with the emergence of Wolf, have helped to soften the blow.
From January 1st until the end of the regular season, Wolf started 34 of the Flames final 45 games. He posted a 17-11-6 record, and established himself as not just the Flames 24-25 starter, but a franchise goalie that they hope can lead them to some playoff success in the coming seasons. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the Cinderella season-ending invite to the ball as the Flames fell just a single point shy of punching their ticket, with St. Louis getting the nod via the regulation wins tie-breaker. However, they did find their starter moving forward and he has finally been able to at least quiet down some of the discussion about his size.
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