The quarter mark of the 2025–26 season is mercifully here, and boy, was it a rough one for the Calgary Flames. In fact, it was the worst first quarter in Flames franchise history. The team hit the 20-game mark with a record of 5–13–2 and sat last in the NHL. With that said, it’s time to hand out some Calgary Flames report card grades.

Lastly, the goaltenders. With just two goaltenders playing in Calgary this year, we’ll only be looking at Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley.

All numbers are courtesy of naturalstattrick.com.

A

Devin Cooley

I don’t think anyone would’ve guessed Devin Cooley would have the best numbers of any Flames goaltenders at the quarter mark. The Flames had slated Cooley to start in the AHL this year. However, Ivan Prosvetov’s disastrous season thrust Cooley into the backup role. Although coaches haven’t used him much, Cooley has been superb in the five games he played.

In those five appearances, Cooley allowed just seven goals on 108 shots. That’s good for a ridiculous .935 save percentage and 1.75 GAA. He’s also saved 3.44 goals above expected and has an impressive .879 high danger save percentage. Among all goaltenders league-wide with at least 150 minutes of action, Cooley’s high danger save percentage of .879 ranks 10th out of 68 eligible goalies.

Cooley has arguably been the most effective player on the entire Flames roster in the first half. He’s absolutely killing it whenever he’s given a chance. There’s no reason why the coaching staff shouldn’t give him more games in the second quarter of the season.

C

Dustin Wolf

While the Flames’ struggles this year certainly can’t be pinned on Wolf, he has been a shell of the Wolf we witnessed last season. It’s no surprise that the Flames sit last in the NHL. This team is nothing without Wolf, and his struggles have left them with no way to bail out their league-worst offence. Whether it’s due to being overworked or sophomore struggles, Wolf has posted an ugly .896 save percentage and 3.01 GAA this season across 18 appearances in the first quarter.

After finishing as the fifth-best goaltender at even strength last year, Wolf finished the quarter with a .805 save percentage at even strength this year. That total ranks 43rd among 66 eligible goaltenders. He also ended the quarter sitting at -0.39 GSAA, a year after finishing with a total of 2.31 GSAA.

Again, Wolf certainly doesn’t deserve the blame for the Flames’ struggles this year, but he has been far from good enough, especially after signing a massive extension.

The opposite result

It’s fair to say the team’s goaltending performances this season have been the exact opposite of what we expected. Wolf has struggled, while Cooley has been borderline elite in his small sample size. The Flames better hope Wolf can turn things around ASAP if they want to avoid a disappointing season.

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