Dustin Wolf has done more than enough to put himself right in the middle of most Calder Trophy conversations. He is currently considered to be the biggest reason that the Calgary Flames are fighting for a playoff spot and has gotten plenty of praise, with some even calling for him to be in the Vezina and MVP conversation.
Despite his unprecedented success, he has been getting snubbed on a lot of polls in favour of other rookies in bigger markets, leaving many Flames fans concerned. So, I thought that we should take a look back at the past to see if previous Flames rookies have struggled in their Calder campaigns due to Calgary’s small market reputation.
Looking at the Flames’ previous nominees
Since the Flames moved to Calgary from Atlanta, a Flames rookie has finished in the top three nominees only six times. Three of those nominations came in the 1980s, with the rookie nominated winning the award all three times.
| Calder Nominees/Winners | Year | Calder Standings | Votes | Winner’s Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Suter | 1985–86 | Winner | 230 | N/A |
| Joe Nieuwendyk | 1987–88 | Winner | 311 | N/A |
| Sergei Makarov | 1989–90 | Winner | 204 | N/A |
| Jarome Iginla | 1996–97 | Runner-up | 372 | 501 |
| Dion Phaneuf | 2005–06 | 3rd | 580 | 1275 |
| Johnny Gaudreau | 2014–15 | 3rd | 1026 | 1147 |
As you can see on this table though, Calgary’s Calder Trophy luck seemingly stopped there. Calgary would only get three finalists over the next 35 years and none of their nominees would win the award. Let’s break down all of Calgary’s nominees and see if we can figure out why they did or didn’t win.
Calgary’s late 80s Calder domination
From 1985 to 1990, a Calgary Flame won the Calder three times. That impressive streak began with Gary Suter in 1985–86. Suter had a very impressive rookie year, putting up 18 goals, 50 assists, 68 points, and a rather impressive 141 penalties in minutes as a nice little cherry on top of it all.
His competition came in the form of two forwards, Toronto Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark and Montreal Canadiens forward Kjell Dahlin. Clark would put up 34 goals, 11 assists, and 45 points. Dahlin would put up 32 goals, 39 assists, and 71 points. It is hard to come up with an argument for why either Dahlin or Clark should’ve won the award over Suter, considering the Flames’ defenceman was only three points off Dahlin, who played centre. The decision to make Gary Suter the Calder winner seems like it would have been an easy one.
The next winner would be Joe Nieuwendyk in 1987–88. The Flames legend would have an appropriately legendary start to his career with 51 goals, 41 assists, and 92 points. His competition would be Buffalo Sabres forward Ray Sheppard and Chicago Blackhawks goalie Darren Pang. This seems like it would have been an easy win for Nieuwendyk, with him outscoring Sheppard by 27 points and Pang ending the year with a losing record.
Calgary’s most recent Calder winner is Sergei Makarov, who won the award in 1989–90. Some fans may remember that this was a bit of a controversial win for Makarov. The Russian forward defected from the Soviet Union late in his hockey career, causing him to not play his first NHL season until he was 31.
Despite his competition being future legends Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick, they would not stand much of a chance against the much older Sergei Makarov. Makarov would outscore Modano by 11 and Roenick by 20 to an easy victory, leading to the implementation of the “Makarov Rule.” This rule states that only rookies below the age of 26 have Calder Trophy eligibility.
Calgary’s Calder luck ran out
After Sergei Makarov’s victory, a Calgary Flame would not be nominated until 1996–97, with Jarome Iginla breaking the short-lived cold streak for Flames rookies. The future captain would finish second to New York Islanders defenceman Bryan Berard. Iginla would finish his first campaign with 21 goals, 29 assists, and 50 points to Berard’s eight goals, 40 assists, and 48 points. While Iginla had a surprising first season, Berard took this award thanks to nearly tying Iginla’s offensive output as a defenceman—a very impressive feat.
Dion Phaneuf would be the next Flames rookie to get a nomination. He would score 20 goals, 29 assists, and 49 points. An incredible season, especially in the middle of the dead puck era, a time when scoring was harder than ever. A defenceman scoring 20 goals in that era was not something that happened often. It sure would be unfortunate if his season was completely overshadowed by the rookie seasons of two of the greatest hockey players to ever live. He would finish third behind Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
Calgary’s most recent Calder nominee was the late, great Johnny Gaudreau, during the 2014–15 season. This was an incredibly close race that very easily could have gone to any of the top three nominees. Both Gaudreau and Mark Stone would end the season with 64 points, but the edge would be given to Mark Stone, who would finish second. The award was given to Aaron Ekblad, who, on top of ending with 39 points, had a very strong season defensively to get the win. It was a very close race that any of the three nominees could’ve won. Unfortunately for Gaudreau and Stone, Ekblad would be the lucky one on the NHL Awards night.
Check out what TWC had to say on Wolf’s emergence on the Fuel and Fire podcast:
What does this mean for Dustin Wolf?
The question still remains, what does this all mean for Dustin Wolf? The last time a Calgary Flame won the Calder Trophy was 35 years ago. If anything can be learned from some of the more recent races, Wolf needs to do everything he can to sway voters in his direction by the end of the year. The chances of a small market goaltender winning a close vote are not high.
If Wolf wants to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, he needs to give voters no choice but to vote for him first. With a little bit less than a month left in the year, time may be running out for him to do so.
