Rogers Legends of Hockey: Common ground for Battle of Alberta goalies
How does a young netminder follow up a Calder Trophy nomination? Calgary Flames rising-star Dustin Wolf could ask his northern neighbour.
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It’s a question that Dustin Wolf has heard dozens of times this summer.
It’s one that Stuart Skinner has already answered.
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Rogers Legends of Hockey: Common ground for Battle of Alberta goalies Back to video
How does a not-a-newbie-anymore netminder follow up a Calder Trophy nomination? What is the secret to avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump?
“I wouldn’t be too worried for Wolfie,” Skinner said at Saturday’s Rogers of Legends Hockey event at the Rogers Charity Classic. “He’s a fantastic goalie.”
Wolf certainly showed that during his first full season with the Calgary Flames. He managed to keep a low-scoring squad in the Western Conference wildcard race until the bitter end. That was recognized with a runner-up finish in Calder Trophy voting.
Before Wolf, Skinner was the last masked man to be short-listed for the NHL’s rookie-of-the-year nod. The Edmonton Oilers’ backstop was second on the ballots in 2022-23.
As starters on opposite sides of the Battle of Alberta, Wolf and Skinner put any on-ice differences aside Saturday as part of a star-studded lineup for the Rogers Legends of Hockey shootout at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club.
The celebrity closest-to-the-pin competition, which followed the second round of action at the PGA Tour Champions showdown, raised $160,100 for charity. (Wolf, who was swinging in support of Youth Centres of Calgary, advanced all the way to final before being defeated by Canyon Meadows junior ace Sydney Bisgrove, who recently won the women’s title at the 2025 Alberta Open Championship. Bisgrove, 19, racked up a big donation for First Tee Alberta.)
As Wolf put it before going head-to-head against Skinner and other NHL and PWHL standouts: “When you get to turn an enemy to a friend for a couple hours, it’s nice.”
“The goalie world is a little bit different,” Skinner added when asked about his neighbour netminder. “Obviously, we’re battling and we’re fighting against each other. But at the end of the day, I know the position that Wolfie is in, being in a Canadian market, being a goaltender, and obviously he knows that from my standpoint too. We both get that for each other.
“I mean, we still want to beat each other. But this is a golf course, so I’m just hoping not to shoot it in the water.”
Which brings us back to making a splash of another sort …
After an awesome introduction in an NHL crease, then what? There’s the benefit of experience and a growing comfort level, but the shooters will now have a better scouting report too.
Skinner posted more victories and a lower goals-against average in Year 2, although his save percentage slipped slightly as a sophomore. While he has helped the Oilers reach the Stanley Cup final in each of the past two springs, there has been some criticism of his playoff performances.
When the puck drops on the 2025-26 campaign, Wolf will be trying to improve on a rookie stat-line that included a 29-16-8 record, 2.64 GAA and .910 save percentage. The 24-year-old is determined to lead the Flames to a post-season berth and also wants to make his case to represent Team USA at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“What’s happened in the past is in the past. You can’t get complacent,” Wolf stressed prior to Saturday’s tee-off at Canyon Meadows. “We were actually just talking about this, me and a coach, this week — how do you avoid the so-called slump? You’ve played in every building, or you’ve been to every building now. You have a feel of, ‘OK, I’ve played well in this building, haven’t played well in this one.’ You don’t want to get complacent in buildings that you are so-called comfortable in. You have to go into each and every one thinking that it’s a new day and in the mindset of you’ve never played here before and you’re trying to prove to everyone in the building that, ‘I’m going to come in and beat you.’
“I think that’s probably the mindset right now — you can’t get complacent on where you’re at,” he continued. “As a group, we’re a team that has to play to our structure each and every game to have a chance. Hopefully, the goals start to come a little more frequently than they did last year. But if we’re keeping goals out of our net, I think we’re going to have a good opportunity to win most nights.”
When it comes to keeping goals out of the net, Skinner thinks the Flames are in good hands.
The 26-year-old has plenty of respect for his provincial puck-stopping rival and fellow Rogers Legends of Hockey participant.
“Watching him play, it’s something else,” Skinner said of Wolf. “I’d say he’s one of the better skaters in the league (among goalies). He has fantastic vision. I mean, to be at the level that he is and also being able to do it in a Canadian market as well, the way he’s done it, is impressive to say the least.
“He’s been doing it for years, too. He was goalie-of-the-year in the American League. He’s done a lot of damage throughout his career. And that just shows you again, it doesn’t really matter what happens, he’s always ready the next year. So a lot of admiration there.”
ICE CHIPS: Flames forward Justin Kirkland will be donning new digits for the 2025-26 season. ‘Costco’ has switched to No. 23. Sean Monahan was the last to wear that sweater for the home team at the Saddledome.
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