Friends, put on your surprised faces, because Western Hockey League goaltender extraordinaire and Calgary Flames mega-prospect Dustin Wolf has won yet another award. On the heels of being named the best goaltender this past season by the WHL and USA Hockey, he’s now been named the top goaltender in all of Canadian major junior hockey.
Wolf, 19, was simply outstanding over the past year. He led the WHL in every major goaltending statistical category – shutouts, wins, goals against average and save percentage – either outright or in a tie. Relative to all CHL goalies, he was incredibly impressive even when you control for games played differences.

Shutouts

  • Wolf (Everett, WHL): 9 shutouts in 45 games, or a shutout every 5 games
  • Will Cranley (Ottawa, OHL): 4 shutouts in 21 games, or a shutout every 5.3 games
  • Kevin Mandolese (Cape Breton, QMJHL): 6 shutouts in 39 games, or a shutout every 6.5 games
  • Nico Daws (Guelph, OHL): 5 shutouts in 38 games, or a shutout every 7.6 games

Wins

  • Samuel Hlavac (Sherbrooke, QMJHL): 33 wins in 39 games, or a win every 1.18 games
  • Olivier Rodrigue (Moncton, QMJHL): 31 wins in 39 games, or a win every 1.26 games
  • Wolf (Everett, WHL): 34 wins in 45 games, or a win every 1.32 games
  • Jacob Ingham (Kitchener, OHL): 33 wins in 46 games, or a win every 1.39 games
  • Alexis Shank (Chicoutimi, QMJHL): 36 wins in 50 games, or a win every 1.39 games
  • Joel Hofer (Portland, WHL): 34 wins in 48 games, or a win every 1.41 games

Goals against average

  • Wolf (Everett, WHL): 1.88 goals against average
  • Shane Farkas (Victoria, WHL): 2.20 goals against average
  • Dylan Garand (Kamloops, WHL): 2.21 goals against average
  • Sebastian Cossa (Edmonton, WHL): 2.23 goals against average
  • Hlavac (Sherbrooke, QMJHL): 2.25 goals against average
  • Mandolese (Cape Breton, QMJHL): 2.25 goals against average

Save percentage

  • Wolf (Everett, WHL): .935 save percentage
  • Farkas (Victoria, WHL): .929 save percentage
  • Mandolese (Cape Breton, QMJHL): .925 save percentage
  • Daws (Guelph, OHL): .924 save percentage
The only statistical category Wolf wasn’t the runaway winner in was wins, and that’s arguably more of a team stat: if Wolf stood on his head, he only got a win if his team mustered enough goals to get him over the top.
Wolf is a 2001-born player who won’t be able to play in the American Hockey League until he’s 20 (in 2021-22), so he’ll be back in the Western Hockey League next season to try to potentially chase down a few league records. He’s accumulated 20 shutouts, just six shy of Carter Hart’s WHL all-time lead.