Now officially a finalist, why Calgary Flames believe Dustin Wolf deserves to win Calder Trophy
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And likely not for the last time.
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'One of his next motivations will be to win a Vezina one day,' said Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet. 'And I strongly believe that he will.'
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Wolf was saluted Monday as a finalist for the Calder Trophy, the annual stick-tap to the NHL's best rookie.
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Also on the ballot are Montreal Canadiens blue-line ace Lane Hutson and San Jose Sharks standout centre Macklin Celebrini.
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'I think so,' Sigalet said. 'It's the toughest position in the game.'
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'Dustin was just so good at so many points in the season, and he gave us a chance to win so many games,' added Flames general manager Craig Conroy. 'I tip my hat to all those other guys — Hutson, Celebrini, (Matvei) Michkov. But Dustin is my guy and we're not where we were without him playing so well.'
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The competitor that he is, Wolf is undoubtedly still stewing that the Flames missed the playoffs by a razor-thin margin, equalling an unlucky record for most points (96) by a squad that did not score a ticket to the spring dance.
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Wolf, who turned 24 last month, constantly deflected questions throughout the season about the rookie-of-the-year race, always keen to steer the conversation back to team pursuits. He'll tell you that his only individual driver is to continue to silence anyone who ever suggested he was too small to succeed on the biggest stage. It's the same mindset that allowed him to rack up a long list of accolades during his ascent, including four consecutive nods as best-in-crease at a lower level — two in the WHL and two more in the AHL.
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'I never talk about trophies with him,' said Sigalet, who pushed to draft Wolf with a seventh-round swing in 2019 and was oh-so-proud of the consistency he showed in his first full season in the NHL. 'If he wins or he gets recognized for something, I'll always text him. But you can just tell by the way he responds that he'd rather be playing. And it's genuine. It's nothing fabricated with him. He just wants to win.
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'As much as you'd like this to be icing on the cake for him, he would give up any personal award to still be playing. Honestly, that's just the way he is. But to be on a team that had no expectations and be basically 20 seconds away from making the playoffs on the back of what he did? It's impressive.'
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