Music icon Shania Twain on Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf: ‘He's the cutest!'
In a post on social media site X on Monday, Twain was singing a much different tune about Calgary Flames rising-star goaltender Dustin Wolf.
A person shared a photo of Wolf at the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races in a 'Let's Go Girls' shirt, a reference to a line from another of Twain's chart-topping hits, and the Canadian country-music icon replied: 'He's the cutest!' She even added a heart-eyes emoji.
Not surprisingly, that post is racking up likes online.
Among the replies, one fan wrote: 'A freakin' great goalie as well!!! #Flames'
Wolf was the runner-up this past season for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year and nearly backstopped the Flames to a surprise playoff berth.
The 24-year-old netminder has been hanging around the city for most of the off-season and seemingly was swept up in the excitement of the Calgary Stampede, spotted at both the rodeo and chuckwagon races.
Twain was the Stampede parade marshal this year, something that the 59-year-old from Timmins, Ont., described as 'a dream of mine for a very long time.'
She also played a concert last Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, where Wolf shines in the goal crease through the winter months.
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Inside Olivia Smith's £1m Arsenal transfer: A fee meant to be secret and a ‘lone wolf's' bidding war
Olivia Smith was always going to become women's football's first £1million player this summer – but nobody was meant to know. Confidentiality was the modus operandi when it came to the Canadian forward's move, with Smith's record-breaking £1.1million ($1.34m) transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal becoming official on Thursday. Those in the circle of trust concerning this deal were few: Liverpool's new managing director of women's football Andy O'Boyle drove negotiations from Merseyside, with his Arsenal counterpart Clare Wheatley making decisions at the London end, before bringing in the player's camp for the final negotiations. Not even Smith's former Liverpool team-mate and captain Taylor Hinds, who left the club in June upon the expiry of her contract and has since joined Arsenal, was told about her decision. When Arsenal confirmed her arrival on a four-year contract this morning, the club's press release stated only that Smith moved for an 'undisclosed fee'. 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The next six days were spent taking the necessary steps to hammer out a deal. Smith's ability to adapt and conquer challenges, however, is part of the reason why Arsenal felt comfortable committing £1million ($1.3m) to a player with only one season of Women's Super League football under her belt, along with seven league goals and a 0.34 non-penalty goals per 90 (41st percentile — so 59 per cent of her contemporaries did better). The past three years have seen Smith climb from the semi-professional League 1 Ontario, to Sporting CP in Portugal's top flight (where she scored 13 goals and assisted nine in 18 league appearances), to Liverpool as their record signing at €250,000 (£216,000/$289,000 at current rates) last summer. The WSL's platform meant Smith's scintillating performances with Liverpool, as well as her instinct and prowess in front of goal, caught the eye of many admirers across the English league, wider Europe and back home in North America. But it was the teenager's raw ambition and mental maturity that led to her record move. In Smith, Arsenal saw a young player who possessed an unrivalled mentality and a massive ceiling for development. To be proven in the highest division in two European leagues at 20 is rare, and while other clubs — such as Chelsea, France's Lyon and Manchester City — were interested, Arsenal felt their plans for Smith set them apart. Rather than just telling the forward how good she is, there were active discussions with the north London club on where they felt she could still improve. Head of player development James Honeyman supported Wheatley with these discussions, while 51-time England international Jodie Taylor, Arsenal's football services executive, provided a fellow player's perspective. Initially, Liverpool had no intention to sell. This was their message in January, as interest in Smith began to strengthen after her first five months in the WSL, and once again after they finished seventh in the 12-team league in early May. Internally, club officials knew that, at some point, Smith would leave, but felt that her contract length gave them some time. One of the major selling points to Liverpool's owners at Fenway Sports Group (FSG) when Matt Beard, the women's team's head coach at the time, pushed to sign Smith for a club-record fee, thereby ensuring the club committed nearly all of its summer 2024 budget for the women's operation to one player, was a prospective profitable departure at some point down the road. FSG's operational model turns on the premise of spending only what a team make. With their women's side, Liverpool's commitment to this template has meant transfer activity has paled historically compared to clubs further up the WSL table, sometimes serving as a point of frustration for supporters and staff, including Beard, who cited this lack of investment throughout a near four-year tenure that ended with his firing in February. Last summer, Liverpool ranked in the bottom four among WSL clubs for squad investment, ahead of only Everton, West Ham and newly promoted Crystal Palace. So while the club did not want to sell Smith, a consensus grew that any offer deemed 'silly to pass on', as one source at Liverpool put it, would need to be considered for the future of the women's team. The world-record transfer of U.S. women's national team defender Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave of the American NWSL to Chelsea in January for $1.1million (£909,000 at the time) served as a benchmark. The man tasked with leading any transfer of Smith was O'Boyle, who in April had replaced Russ Fraser as the club's managing director of women's football. O'Boyle is described by multiple people close to the deal as operating as a 'lone wolf', who ensured all contact from interested parties worked exclusively through him and drove a 'steep bidding war'. As mentioned, interest in Smith from around Europe and within the WSL had begun as early as January. Sources say Manchester City made informal contact in February, but the lack of a full-time manager there after Gareth Taylor's sacking the following month made them a non-starter. Multi-club owner Michele Kang's teams Lyon and the NWSL's Washington Spirit were both looking, too. In June, Paris-Saint Germain had a bid rejected by Liverpool, who said it was less than half of what another club had put on the table. Club sources say the highest bid at that point was around £750,000. Despite Chelsea being in the mix before Smith's move to Sporting, the serial WSL champions, according to sources, did not want to be drawn into a bidding war this summer and felt her lack of experience and their current pool of options did not countenance meeting Liverpool's asking price. Thus, their highest offer never went above £650,000 in total. Arsenal had been tracking Smith for years, but their interest was not formalised until the second half of last season. March ended up being an informative month, not only because they kick-started their journey to a Champions League final they would eventually win with a comeback victory over Real Madrid in a two-leg quarter-final, but also because of two games against Liverpool. The first came in the FA Cup quarter-finals, at home at Meadow Park. Liverpool won 1-0, and Smith caused constant issues for defender Katie McCabe. When Liverpool visited again two weeks later, this time at the Emirates Stadium in the league, Arsenal had devised a plan to nullify the Canadian specifically. They won, 4-0. Meanwhile, the studying that has eventually made Smith an Arsenal player continued. Despite the money being demanded by the Merseyside club, Arsenal's pursuit was 'persistent', as one source says, to the point Liverpool and Smith felt a move was inevitable. From an Arsenal perspective, that manifested in a confidence that they would always be the ones to seal a deal with the player. A world-record bid for promising young forwards is not new territory for Arsenal. In January 2023, they made such an offer for Alessia Russo before signing the England striker, then 24, as a free agent when her Manchester United contract expired that summer. Arsenal's recent success, on and off the pitch, allowed them to bid so highly for Smith. Their savvy recruitment elsewhere also played a part. While Russo, Spain international Mariona Caldentey and Hinds are likely to be on considerable wages, completing their signings after the expiration of their contracts with United, Barcelona and Liverpool respectively allows Arsenal to manoeuvre financially with more freedom. Winning the Women's Champions League in May might not have been as influential as some may think in monetary terms. Their prize money brought an initial windfall of €1million (£864,000/$1.2m at current rates), rising to €1.5m in October following performance-based bonuses. But most of that will go towards operational costs, rather than being directly used in recruitment. As with most teams, the transfer budget at Arsenal Women comes from the parent club plus their own resources. While Smith's brief senior career has been a dizzying series of ladder-climbs, leaving Liverpool was not on her cards this summer, according to multiple sources close to the player. Her calibre of play and star power led some within the club, and many outside it, to believe Smith had the potential to become the face of Liverpool women's team, even drawing comparisons with the men's side's Mohamed Salah, who joined from Roma of Italy for a then-club-record £36.9million in 2017 and has gone on to beecome the club's record goalscorer in the Premier League. Smith, who scored Liverpool Women's first-ever goal at Anfield in what was her debut at the club's main stadium in October, got two more there in March in a 3-1 win over Manchester United — the team's first WSL victory at one of the sport's most iconic grounds. Dad Sean, with whom she maintains a close bond, is a lifelong Liverpool fan. She also liked the club's staff, got along well with her team-mates and believed another season on Merseyside could be beneficial for her development. However, the February sacking of Beard, who had been pivotal in securing her signature, and the protracted, still-ongoing process of finding his permanent replacement (Liverpool are currently in talks with former City boss Taylor) left Smith's camp with a sense of uncertainty. The departure of Hinds to Arsenal, as well as vocal interest from clubs who could promise better infrastructure and proven development tracks, became difficult to ignore. Selecting an environment where Smith could get the most out of her personal and professional development as a young player with big dreams was paramount. With Arsenal's pedigree in developing and nurturing talent, as well as the evolution of Russo as a player since her arrival two years ago, the club looked like a compelling landing spot for a player hoping to raise her stock. Winning the Champions League final, and head coach Renee Slegers' history of working in their academy reinforced Arsenal's reputation as a place for growth. The commitment to play all women's home matches next season at the 60,000-capacity Emirates was also a factor for Smith. Off the pitch, Arsenal have also excelled. In their 2023-24 accounts (up to May 2024, but released in March this year), their gate and other matchday revenues rose from £2.6million in 2022-23 to £4.3m, while their overall turnover grew from £10.9m to £15.2m. These figures would not have played a direct role in recruiting Smith, but show the direction Arsenal are heading in. Even with this deal's record outlay, the club do not expect this to be the end of their summer transfer business. Ultimately, decision-makers at Liverpool acknowledged they were not in the position to offer Smith the resources and opportunities that Champions League-competing clubs can. They also believe selling for a fee nearly five times greater than what was paid for her just a year prior could allow them to achieve that status themselves if it's invested smartly. The blueprint is there on the men's side at Liverpool. In January 2018, they sold forward Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona for £142million. The money received helped pay for defender (and now team captain) Virgil van Dijk in that window and goalkeeper Alisson in the next one, both of whom were crucial to the club's 2018-19 Champions League triumph and 2019-20 and 2024-25 Premier League title wins. The sense of excitement and pride for those who have aided Smith on her journey so far is overwhelming, according to those close to her camp. But that milestone fee is not the source of those feelings; rather, it's the sense of validation and acknowledged-worth for the player's countless sacrifices. Smith will doubtlessly need to adapt to what will be the greatest step up in levels of her career to date, but former colleagues at Liverpool and her new ones at Arsenal harbour few worries she will have any problems doing just that. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Arsenal, Liverpool, Canada, Soccer, NWSL, Women's Soccer, Transfer News 2025 The Athletic Media Company
