Wolf named AHL MVP, picking up second major award in a week

A week after picking up his first NHL victory, Dustin Wolf is picking up a lot of AHL hardware.

The American Hockey League announced Friday that Wolf has been selected as the winner of the Les Cunningham Award, given to the league's most valuable player, for the 2022-23 season.

The award was voted on by coaches, players and media members from each of the AHL's 32 cities.

Wolf becomes just the eighth goaltender in league history to win MVP honours and the youngest since Jason Spezza won the award in 2004-05.

Wednesday, Wolf was named the winner of the Aldege 'Baz' Bastien Award as the league's most outstanding goaltender.

Wolf led all AHL goalies in every major statistical category in 2022-23, including games won (42), save percentage (.932), goals-against average (2.09), and shutouts (seven).

"Obviously a huge honour," Wolf said in an interview with CTV News on Friday.

"It's kind of the goal that you set out at the start of the season to be the best player that you can be. You know, to be able to say that you've achieved your goal of you know, giving your team a chance to win and playing at the highest possible level that you possibly can is pretty rewarding."

Wolf said his focus has turned toward the possibility of the upcoming AHL playoffs.

"The regular season is over and you kind of shift your mindset to what the real hardware is about - the Calder Cup," he said.

"The real prize is when you're lifting a cup over your head," he added.

"Obviously, I've never had the opportunity to in my career, in any league I've played in and you know, hopefully we make that a first for myself and everybody in the group."

The Wranglers led the league in total points and are preparing for the AHL playoffs.

Wolf was drafted in the seventh round by the Flames in the 2019 NHL draft. He made his NHL debut April 12, stopping 23 shots as the Flames defeated San Jose 3-1.

With files from Glenn Campbell