The Calgary Flames and the Stockton Heat officially announced on December 30th that Dustin Wolf has been called up to the Flames for the first NHL call-up of his career. This transaction came on an emergency basis as Flames back-up Dan Vladar was listed as non-roster going into the Flames match-up against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night.
How He Got Here
By no means did Dustin Wolf come out of nowhere. He has been making a name for himself in the WHL the last couple of seasons with a plethora of goaltending awards, including Goaltender of the Year with the Everett Silvertips. He got his first professional start last season for the Stockton Heat and is playing in his first whole professional season with them this year. If you have checked his stats at all, you may not believe your eyes. In 16 games played with the Heat this season, he has yet to earn a regulation loss.
Wolf has been playing elite hockey this season and is a large contributor to the success the Heat have been finding. He is leading or near the top of multiple major AHL goaltending statistics: top of the league in wins with 14, second in the league with a .940 save percentage, and third in the league in goals against average at 1.84. He without a doubt, has definitely earned the shot on the bench with the big club.
Time to Knock Off the Rust
This will be the Flames first game since the majority of their team entered COVID-19 protocol just prior to the NHL Christmas break. They have not played since December 11th when they beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2. They have had a number of postponements, including what would have been their New Year’s Eve game against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at home. New Canadian COVID-19 restrictions prevent venues that seat over 1,000 people to sell all their tickets and require half capacity for events due to the spread of the Omicron variant. For the time being, the league is avoiding these Canadian market games to prevent further profit losses.
Wolf has also been out of the game for a bit. The Stockton Heat had a COVID-19 situation prior to the Christmas Break as well, but it only resulted in one game postponement. They were also supposed to play this previous Wednesday but their opponents, the San Jose Barracuda, were unable to play due to an internal COVID situation of their own. Wolf’s last game was more recent than the Flames’ when he got the start in net against the Colorado Eagles on December 18th.
Back in Time for the Weekend?
There has not been a lot of indication that this recall will be a lengthy one, especially since it was made on an emergency basis. Stockton is supposed to play on Friday and Saturday afternoon, and Dustin Wolf might be back in time to join them. Another factor playing into this weekend is the uncertainty of those games actually taking place. They were meant to play the Barracuda for their weekend series, the same team that was unable to play earlier in the week. There has not been an update on their opposing team’s scenario as of yet.
If he is unable to make it back, the Heat do have options. Adam Werner has been getting games in here and there, and earlier this week, they called up Daniil Chechelev from the Kansas City Mavericks.
I wouldn’t expect to see Wolf on the taxi squad, as his development is best suited with the Heat this year. So if this is a quick turnaround, it will be a great experience for the young goaltender to see what the future may hold for him.
The Flames are set to play the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, December 30th at 8:00 pm MT and will play again on Sunday, January 2nd against the Chicago Blackhawks at 5:00 pm MT.
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