Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf makes a save against the San Jose Sharks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, April 12, 2023, in Calgary, Alberta. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
SAN JOSE – Being around Sharks Ice in San Jose will always be special for Gilroy native and Calgary Flames prospect Dustin Wolf.
Right now, it’s because he’s considered one of the top goalies in the American Hockey League. Again.
“This is the place where I grew up,” Wolf told this news organization last month when he was in San Jose. “I’ve spent so many hours in this arena. They’ve changed a few things and added a few rinks, but it’s always special coming back to the hometown.”
Wolf was at Tech CU Arena, next to Sharks Ice, on Sunday night for the first day of the AHL’s All-Star Classic, an event he’s now been a part of for two straight years. He was named the MVP of last year’s festivities in Laval, Quebec, months before he became the first goalie since 2004 to be named the league’s MVP.
Monday, he’ll take part in the AHL All-Star Challenge, a series of 3-on-3 games between the AHL’s four divisions. Wolf and Sharks prospect Shakir Mukhamadullin will be on the Pacific Division team.
Now it’s a matter of when Wolf will be able to return to the NHL on a full-time basis. He made his Flames debut at the end of last season, beating his hometown Sharks in April, and played in five more games this year after an injury sidelined No. 1 netminder Jacob Markstrom.
Markstrom, 34, and backup goalie Dan Vladar, 26, are both signed through next season, while Wolf is set to become a restricted free agent. That might make things a bit more complicated in the short term, although there’s little doubt that Wolf figures into the Flames’ long-term plans.
For now, Wolf, just the third Santa Clara County native to play in the NHL, is trying to stay patient.
“You want to be at the highest level as much as you can be,” Wolf said. “I’ve had some opportunities this year to be the backup and play a couple of games. The opportunity is going to come.”
In some sense, Wolf was perhaps destined to be a hockey player.
His parents used to be Sharks season ticket holders. His mom, Michelle, told the Calgary Sun last April that Dustin used to kick while she was pregnant with him, but only when they attended games at what is now SAP Center. When the games ended, future goalie Dustin would stop kicking.
“Looking back now,” Michelle said, “you realize that this is the position he was meant to play.”
An active child, Wolf, still in preschool, was enrolled in a learn-to-skate program at Sharks Ice. He later went on to play goalie for the Santa Clara Blackhawks and knew at that point that he wanted to play in the NHL. Evgeni Nabokov, who starred for Sharks during the 2000s, became his favorite player.
Starring as a youth, Wolf in 2014 left the South Bay to join the Jr. Kings in Los Angeles, where he played for three years and furthered his development. In 2017 when he was 16, Wolf joined the Everett Silvertips of the WHL.
Wolf shined from the get-go at that level and in the 2018-2019 season, his first full year of major junior, was selected in the seventh round — 214th overall, the fourth to last pick – by the Flames.
Some of that might have had to do with him being 6-foot, about three or four inches shorter than most NHL goalies. But that’s hardly been an impediment, as he continued to shine in Everett before he made his pro debut in Feb. 2021.
Things you love to see: @NHLFlames goalie prospect Dustin Wolf (@dwolf2332) grew up in Northern California and was a big @SanJoseSharks guy.
Tonight, he makes his much-anticipated NHL debut against—you guessed it—the Sharks.
pic.twitter.com/fJ8omgThoY
— NHL (@NHL) April 13, 2023
“(Wolf’s) skating and his compete. Those two things combined are going to make him special,” said Sharks goalie coach Thomas Speer, who has known Wolf for years. Speer, the former goalie coach for the Flames’ AHL affiliate in Stockton, took Wolf into his home during COVID when most rinks were closed and began to work with him full-time as he started his pro career.
Speer said Wolf has the same attributes as Nashville’s Juuse Saros, a one-time Vezina Trophy finalist who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds.
“He just needs to get the experience,” Speer said of Wolf. “He’s small, but he won’t take no for an answer.”
Following his 26-save performance for the Calgary Wranglers on Saturday in their 3-1 win over the Ontario Reign, the 22-year-old Wolf now has an 18-7-2 record in 28 games. His sparkling .927 save percentage is second-best among all AHL goalies who have played at least 840 minutes this season.
Since he made his AHL debut in Stockton in Feb. 2021, Wolf’s AHL record is 95-27-8 with 11 shutouts and a .927 save percentage. In 13 playoff games, Wolf is 13-9 with a .922 save percentage and four shutouts.
In other words, it shouldn’t be too long before he’s in the NHL full-time, and if things go well for him, this will be his last appearance in the AHL All-Star Classic.
“I think he understands the development plan and there’s also two good goalies in Calgary,” Speer said of Wolf. “He’s just waiting for the situation to come, and a lot of it’s out of his hands. The more you think about that stuff as a goalie, the worse off you are, because you forget about the game in front of you.
“I’m sure he’s staying focused and ready to go.”
“It’s completely out of my control,” Wolf said of getting promoted again. ‘When your shoulder gets tapped, just play to the best of your abilities. Management’s going to make choices and while I’m down here, enjoy it and enjoy being around the guys and play as many minutes as I can.”
Originally published at Curtis Pashelka