Wolf has 'a chip on my shoulder,' looks to lead Flames to playoffs

CALGARY -- Dustin Wolf and the Calgary Flames have a lot to prove this season with hopes of returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 24-year-old goalie was a finalist for the Calder Trophy last season as one of the top rookies in the NHL. He started 53 games and went 29-16-8 with a 2.64 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and three shutouts.

But the Flames (41-27-14) just missed the playoffs, losing the tiebreaker to the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card from the Western Conference. Wolf is motivated to do his part this season to get them there.

“For me, last year is last year; you can’t replicate the same thing,” Wolf said at the Canyon Meadows Gold and Country Club on Saturday during the Rogers Legends of Hockey event. “Your objective is to come to the next season, have a good summer and be better. I think the term I like to use right now is, ‘not to be complacent.’ I’m still super young, trying to learn my way around the League.

“I have one full year under my belt, but that means absolutely nothing. I want to come in here with a chip on my shoulder. We have a lot to prove as a team.”

It would be a natural progression for Wolf, a seventh-round pick (No. 214) by Calgary at the 2019 NHL Draft who was named the American Hockey League’s goalie of the year in 2021-2022 and 2022-23 and was league MVP in 2023. He was able to make a successful transition full-time to the NHL after playing 17 games (15 starts) in 2023-24, when he was 7-7-1 with a 3.16 GAA and .893 save percentage.

“I think there’s less time for error (in the NHL); the guys are crisp with the puck on and off their stick, they’re good at the netfront,” Wolf said. “Not to mention the lifestyle changes. You’re flying to every city, going coast-to-coast, playing every other night, so it’s just managing that, learning how your body wants to handle it and how you can be the best version of yourself each and every night.

“It’s a learning process, but I think if you can go out there and help your team win every night, that’s all you can ask for.”

There will be pressure on Wolf, considering the Flames have greater expectations this season after having come so close to the playoffs with a relatively young team. But he said he and his teammates are ready for the challenge.

“I think this is a common topic with everyone right now is, how you follow up last year? We got beat out by a tiebreaker,” Wolf said. “As an individual and as a whole group, we have a lot to prove, and we have guys with some fire in their guts right now.”

Calgary’s youth movement also features forwards Matt Coronato, 22, Connor Zary, 23, Adam Klapka, 24, Martin Pospisil, 25 and Joel Farabee, 25, and defensemen Kevin Bahl, 25, Brayden Pachal, 25, and Jake Bean, 27.

Defenseman Zayne Parekh, 19, and Hunter Brzustewicz, 20, are also expected to compete for a roster spot when the Flames begin training camp next month.

“Our job with the same team we had last year is to run it back, keep showing everybody, whether you have the most skill, the least skill, are the oldest team, the youngest team, it doesn’t matter as long as we come together as a group we’re destined for good things, especially this year,” Wolf said. “Coming into camp last year, we had the full expectations to make playoffs. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for us; it was more the talking heads in the media saying they don’t think we’re going to make it.

“… You never want to miss out and I was comparing it to like being one win away from the Cup. You’re right there and you feel like you deserve better, but you look back, there were certainly some games that slipped and that’s the long 82-game season. But it’s neat you get to learn from the experience. That was my first real opportunity to do that, so you try to learn from it now and you take full advantage of it in years to come.”