It pays to know people. And when your family is friends with a super-agent in the NHL, it might even land you some ice time with a legend like Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby. That’s what happened to Calgary Flames rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf when he was a much younger man.
Crosby, now 37 and in his 20th NHL season, was in Los Angeles working through his concussion issues earlier in his career when the opportunity for Wolf to share the ice with Sid the Kid came up through Crosby’s agent Pat Brisson. Wolf figured he was about 11 years old when that took place. He didn’t face any shots while watching Crosby skate on the other side of the ice, but it was memorable for the young netminder.
“Being that young and seeing a guy (ike Crosby) was pretty remarkable,” Wolf told reporters on Monday. “I was so young at that point it was more like I want to let him do his thing and kind of just sit in the background and watch what was going on.”
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Wolf joked about Crosby’s heavy shot back then. He may finally get a chance to get in front of it on Tuesday if the Flames continue with their goalie rotation. Maybe Crosby will remember this one.
“I’ve seen a few of those pictures lately,” Crosby said to TSN when told there is a picture of him and Wolf out there. “It’s fun. I still love being out there as much as I did in the picture. It tells you how fast things go and just that the hockey world’s small. You never know when you’re going to cross paths at different points and up playing against guys. At this point, I’m playing against guys who I’ve played against their dads.”
Wolf has yet to play Crosby and the Penguins in his young career but is 2-0 on the season with a .944 save percentage. So far, Calgary has alternated between Dan Vladar and Wolf for every start. The Penguins game is their first of three straight at the Saddledome.
Aside from a rough first period in Vancouver during the Flames’ comeback victory over the Canucks, Vladar has been equally stellar. Vladar also has pretty good numbers in a 1-1-1 record against the Pens in his career so far.
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