<p><em class="text-lg italic">This article is brought to you by bet365.</em></p>
<p>Through the first set of pre-season games, the Calgary Flames have played three times. The three goaltenders vying for regular duty with the big club – Dan Vladar, Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley – have each started one game.</p>
<p>Each netminder backstopped his team to an exhibition victory.</p>
<p>Through the first set of games, how is the goalie battle shaping up?</p>
<h1>Dan Vladar</h1>
<p>Vladar played on Sunday for the first time since Mar. 12, roughly six and a half months, as he was shut down to undergo hip surgery late last season.</p>
<p>He played 40 minutes in the Flames&#8217; 6-1 home victory over Edmonton on Monday night. The lone goal he gave up in the first period was on an Edmonton power play off a bit of an unintentional screen from defender Artem Grushnikov. He was credited with 18 saves on 19 shots over 39:42 of action before being relieved by Waltteri Ignatjew for the third period.</p>
<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t play for six and a half months, so I was probably more nervous than before my first NHL game,&#8221; said Vladar to the media following the game. &#8220;But I think my body felt good and as I said, as the game went on I felt better and better, and obviously always nice to beat those guys.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I thought he was really good,&#8221; said head coach Ryan Huska. &#8220;He said he felt very good after the game, too&#8230; I thought after the first few saves that he made he settled in and he made some big saves for us tonight. So he kind of looked like the Dan Vladar of old, which is nice.&#8221;</p>
<p>On Monday, the six defencemen in front of Vladar had a combined 1,530 games of NHL experience.</p>
<h1>Dustin Wolf</h1>
<p>Wolf played on Sunday night&#8217;s pre-season opener in Seattle. He played all 60 minutes of the game and made 33 saves on 34 shots in the Flames&#8217; 6-1 win over the Kraken. The lone goal he gave up came late in the second period, with Nathan Villeneuve getting a clean one-timer opportunity in the high slot area that beat Wolf over his shoulder.</p>
<p>On Sunday, the six defencemen in front of Wolf had a combined 259 games of NHL experience.</p>
<h1>Devin Cooley</h1>
<p>Finally, Cooley played all 60 minutes of Monday night&#8217;s 6-3 Flames win in Edmonton over the Oilers. He played all 60 minutes and made 44 saves on 47 shots in the win. He gave up three goals, one on the power play, with the two even strength goals coming on quality plays by the Oilers in front of the Flames net.</p>
<p>Via Flames TV, Cooley had a great assessment of his approach to the goalie battle: &#8220;That&#8217;s kinda why I came here, is to show that I don&#8217;t suck that much and hopefully I can help this team get some wins in the regular season. It&#8217;s a great competition. There&#8217;s two other really good goalies here&#8230; there&#8217;s <em>five</em> really good goalies, every goalie here is sick, you know? So it&#8217;s a lot of fun. It&#8217;s great being able to compete every single day and get close with the other goalies. And yeah, it&#8217;s been a blast.&#8221;</p>
<p>On Monday, the six defencemen in front of Cooley had a combined 206 games of NHL experience.</p>
<p>Three games, three wins, and three pretty strong performances from the three Flames netminders.</p>
<p><em><strong>Which netminder do you think was most impressive in the opening set of pre-season games? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>


<em class="text-lg italic">This article is brought to you by bet365.</em>

Through the first set of pre-season games, the Calgary Flames have played three times. The three goaltenders vying for regular duty with the big club – Dan Vladar, Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley – have each started one game.

Each netminder backstopped his team to an exhibition victory.

Through the first set of games, how is the goalie battle shaping up?
<h1>Dan Vladar</h1>
Vladar played on Sunday for the first time since Mar. 12, roughly six and a half months, as he was shut down to undergo hip surgery late last season.

He played 40 minutes in the Flames' 6-1 home victory over Edmonton on Monday night. The lone goal he gave up in the first period was on an Edmonton power play off a bit of an unintentional screen from defender Artem Grushnikov. He was credited with 18 saves on 19 shots over 39:42 of action before being relieved by Waltteri Ignatjew for the third period.

"I didn't play for six and a half months, so I was probably more nervous than before my first NHL game," said Vladar to the media following the game. "But I think my body felt good and as I said, as the game went on I felt better and better, and obviously always nice to beat those guys."

"I thought he was really good," said head coach Ryan Huska. "He said he felt very good after the game, too... I thought after the first few saves that he made he settled in and he made some big saves for us tonight. So he kind of looked like the Dan Vladar of old, which is nice."

On Monday, the six defencemen in front of Vladar had a combined 1,530 games of NHL experience.
<h1>Dustin Wolf</h1>
Wolf played on Sunday night's pre-season opener in Seattle. He played all 60 minutes of the game and made 33 saves on 34 shots in the Flames' 6-1 win over the Kraken. The lone goal he gave up came late in the second period, with Nathan Villeneuve getting a clean one-timer opportunity in the high slot area that beat Wolf over his shoulder.

On Sunday, the six defencemen in front of Wolf had a combined 259 games of NHL experience.
<h1>Devin Cooley</h1>
Finally, Cooley played all 60 minutes of Monday night's 6-3 Flames win in Edmonton over the Oilers. He played all 60 minutes and made 44 saves on 47 shots in the win. He gave up three goals, one on the power play, with the two even strength goals coming on quality plays by the Oilers in front of the Flames net.

Via Flames TV, Cooley had a great assessment of his approach to the goalie battle: "That's kinda why I came here, is to show that I don't suck that much and hopefully I can help this team get some wins in the regular season. It's a great competition. There's two other really good goalies here... there's <em>five</em> really good goalies, every goalie here is sick, you know? So it's a lot of fun. It's great being able to compete every single day and get close with the other goalies. And yeah, it's been a blast."

On Monday, the six defencemen in front of Cooley had a combined 206 games of NHL experience.

Three games, three wins, and three pretty strong performances from the three Flames netminders.

<em><strong>Which netminder do you think was most impressive in the opening set of pre-season games? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2109" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="328"></div>

How is the Calgary Flames goalie battle shaping up through the first set of pre-season games?

Zayne Parekh skates in the neutral zone in the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers game at the 2024 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.

Recent articles from Ryan Pike

Breaking News