The Calgary Wranglers had a shaky start to their 2022–23 campaign but now find themselves in the mix for tops in the entire AHL. This is in large thanks to Dustin Wolf’s stellar play over the calendar month of the December. He was so good that he was named the AHL Goalie of the Month.
AHL’s December Goalie of the Month
From December 2 through 31, Wolf featured in nine games, going 8–1–0. He posted a save percentage of 0.949 and was outstanding in every category. Here’s how his game log looked over December.
| Opponent | SA | GA | SV% | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| @SD | 22 | 3 | 0.864 | 1 |
| @SD | 17 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 |
| SD | 22 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 |
| MB | 38 | 3 | 0.921 | 0 |
| MB | 38 | 2 | 0.947 | 1 |
| ONT | 38 | 1 | 0.974 | 1 |
| ONT | 40 | 2 | 0.950 | 1 |
| @BAK | 28 | 2 | 0.929 | 1 |
| @ONT | 34 | 1 | 0.971 | 1 |
Wolf picked up two consecutive shutouts against the San Diego Gulls, once on the road and once at home. His only loss came in his fourth game of the month against the Manitoba Moose. The lone loss was sandwiched by Wolf starting December with three wins and closing out 2022 with five victories.
Previous AHL Goalies of the Month so far in 2022–23 were Dustin Tokarski in October and Hunter Shepard in November.
Wolf’s incredibly impressive month of December vaulted him to tops in the league in many different categories, and he’s on track to improve on his rookie campaign where he won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the league’s best goaltender. He should easily find himself in the conversation for the Baz Bastien once again this season.
AHL stats
Wolf’s 18 wins leads the AHL with Yaroslav Askarov trailing with 13. Likewise, Wolf’s three shutouts also leads the league with again Askarov as well as Joey Daccord trailing with two apiece. Boasting a save percentage of 0.929, only Brandon Bussi has a better stat than Wolf in that regard at 0.936.
Not only is he tasked with being the busiest goalie in the AHL, he’s excelling in the role. A big part of his play can be credited for elevating the Wranglers back to the top of the AHL where they can look to lock in a playoff spot as well as challenge for the Calder Cup once again.
A year to remember
Wolf has been outstanding at every level he’s played and the AHL is just the latest league that he’s excelling in. He’s the Calgary Flames’ top prospect at this point and it’s exciting to see him further develop his play as a pro goalie. Congratulations, Dustin Wolf!
Photo by Candice Ward/Calgary Wranglers
