The Calgary Flames are punching above their weight class between the pipes, but the last few weeks have not been very pretty for Flames goaltenders. On November 23, the Flames had one of the most efficient goaltending tandems in the NHL.
The #Flames goaltending tandem is dollar for dollar the best in the league pic.twitter.com/tnZBCQl5jQ
— The Win Column (@wincolumnCGY) November 23, 2024
However, those figures have taken a big tumble since that post.
Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar since November 23, 2024
Both Flames goalies have seen their numbers significantly drop since November 23, and the Flames unsurprisingly have fallen out of a playoff spot simultaneously.
| Goalie | GP | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustin Wolf | 3 | 0–3–0 | 4.79 | 0.846 |
| Dan Vladar | 5 | 2–1–2 | 2.94 | 0.885 |
It’s not a huge sample size, and we couldn’t expect these two goalies to play at a Vezina Trophy level for the entire season, but it’s worthy to note how they’ve both struggled over the past few weeks.
Of course, both goalies are in unique situations allowing them to have a longer leash to get out of these slumps. Vladar is coming off major off-season hip surgery, and Wolf is in his first full NHL season.
At the end of the day, they’re not doing a terrible job by any means, but they aren’t stealing games like they did earlier in the season.
Devin Cooley’s play over the same period in the AHL
At the same time, the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers are seeing sensational play from their number-one goalie, Devin Cooley. The offseason addition has been marvellous for the farm team, sitting near the very top of the table in almost every goalie category over the season.
Over the same period, November 23 to today, Cooley has surged in exactly the opposite way as the Flames netminders.
| Goalie | GP | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Cooley | 4 | 4-0-0 | 1.51 | 0.948 |
I truly don’t know where they managed to find this guy, or why their intel on him was so good, but they’ve found a diamond in the rough with Cooley. At what point do they give him a shot in the NHL?
A case for Cooley
At this point in the season, the Flames find themselves in a hard spot—too good to bottom out, not good enough to be a true playoff team. This is absolutely not the year for them to be a middle-of-the-pack team, so they need to figure things out and pick a direction.
As mentioned, Wolf and Vladar are afforded long leashes, but this shouldn’t be the case all season long. To have accountability in their play, they should understand that there’s a red-hot goalie in the organization and he’s the next one up.
We’ll see how things shake out for the Flames to close out 2024 but it wouldn’t be surprisingly if Cooley gets a look sooner rather than later.
