Dustin Wolf typically cleans up the messes.
In Wolf’s case, it’s also true at home. The Calgary Wranglers’ stalwart goaltender shares an address in the southeast corner of the city with rookie defenceman Jeremie Poirier.
“Wolfy is a great guy,” Poirier beamed. “He loves to cook and he keeps the house pretty clean, always nice and tidy. So it’s good to live with him.”
Poirier, by his own admission, is “not the cleanest guy.”
So just how bad is it?
“I don’t know if I want to disclose that information,” Wolf said with a grin. “I like to keep a tidy house for the most part. And him, uh, not so much. But he lives in the basement so I don’t even bother going down there. If it’s a mess down there, he can have it that way.
“But he’s a good roommate. He’s there when you need him. When you need something, you can yell at him to do it.”
You often hear coaches talk about “cleaning things up” and Wranglers skipper Mitch Love is no different, but the Flames’ farm-clubbers have posted a sparkling record over the past month and change. Dating back to early November, they are on an 11-1-1 run.
Wolf, feted as the AHL’s best netminder in 2021-22, is now leading the loop with a dozen victories.
The 21-year-old was Clorox spotless in his most recent start, delivering a 17-save shutout against the San Diego Gulls. Those same shooters visit the Saddledome for a two-game set this weekend — a Friday-nighter and then a Sunday matinee.
Poirier, meanwhile, has been immediately productive in his jump to the pro ranks. In the Wranglers’ last home outing, he sniped the overtime winner.
After capping his junior career with a Memorial Cup celebration with the Saint John Sea Dogs, he currently tops the AHL’s crop of rookie blue-liners with 16 points, a mix of three goals and 13 assists. The 20-year-old left-hander — a third-round pick in 2020 and the most intriguing of Calgary’s rising rearguards — is sometimes spotlighted as the quarterback on a top power-play unit that has also featured the just-recalled Matthew Phillips, plus fellow forwards Jakob Pelletier, Connor Zary and Radim Zohorna. (Nick DeSimone is the Wranglers’ other go-to as the lone point-patroller on PP1.)
Poirier, of course, is aware that the key to ultimately realizing his NHL dreams is to prove he can be trusted for his defensive details, to ensure Wolf doesn’t have to be bailing him out too often. He stressed that offence, long the strength of game, is “just a plus for me right now.”
“He’s had an awesome start and it’s pretty cool to see a guy you live with come in and have that success,” Wolf praised. “He has a whole lot of skill. He has a lot of upside to him. It’s good to have him at an arm’s length and I’m there to support him whenever he needs it, as well.”
Although these two don’t talk too much hockey at home, Poirier is learning plenty from simply observing how his roomie goes about his business. Even if he’s rarely spotted with a Swiffer or scrubber, he’s trying to play the part of sponge.
“Everything he does, there’s a purpose to it,” Poirier said of Wolf, whose fall stat-line shows a 2.45 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and a couple of goose-eggs. “His preparation is off-the-charts. It’s so good. And you can see it — everything he does at the rink, it carries on at home. He does all the little details to prepare himself, whether it’s for game days or practice days.
“I think we’re different in a lot of aspects, personality-wise,” he continued. “But to see him do his stuff like that, see him get prepared, see him be so focused and on-task, it’s great for me to have a role model like that.”
When Wolf, who had already arranged to rent this shack from former teammate Byron Froese, started his search during training camp for a basement tenant, he admittedly didn’t know Poirier too well.
Now sharing a roof, they’ve become fast friends.
“He’s just so laid-back, more Cali-like than I am,” said Wolf, who hails from the Golden State. “So it works out well.”
“We’re a great mix together, I think,” Poirier agreed.
Good thing, because they’ll be spending a lot of time together this month.
The Wranglers will play six straight on home ice as the holidays approach, an opportunity to stuff their stockings with valuable points in the standings. After a sluggish start, they have surged into second spot in the AHL’s Pacific Division with a 13-6-1 record.
“Early on, there were a lot of new guys, a lot of guys coming from different teams and learning new systems, and we obviously didn’t get off on the right foot,” Wolf said. “I know for myself, I wasn’t mad with how I was playing but I knew I had another level to it. And I think that was where everyone else was at, too. It started to click and when you get on a roll, I wouldn’t say it’s easy to keep it going, but there are a lot of good feelings in the room and everybody is contributing and finding their groove. That’s kind of how it’s gone for us.
“I think we can still step it up another level, but we’re playing good hockey right now and we just need to keep building.”
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