Twenty-two seconds.
As the Calgary Flames near the midway mark of their schedule, that’s the difference in workload between their two netminders, Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar.
This has been a timeshare in the truest sense of the term.
Each guy has been tapped for 19 starts so far. The sliver of a gap in their total ice-time — 1150:12 for Wolf and 1150:34 for Vladar — can be chalked up to the unpredictable length of sudden-death sessions or the occasional pit-stop at the bench for a delayed penalty or to send out an extra attacker.
With head coach Ryan Huska rarely straying from a straight-up rotation, it’s been relatively easy to guess who will be between the pipes for the Flames on any given night.
That could, however, be about to change as the playoff race intensifies through the winter and into early spring.
“I think it’s worked well, to date,” Huska said after Friday’s open practice at the Saddledome. “I think both guys have been good for us. They have given us chances to win. And I think as we keep going, you’ll probably see, if there is some separation between one or the other guy, that someone is going to get a little more regular starts.
“I’m not saying you’re going to run a guy for 15 games, but two-of-three is most certainly something that we will start to look at.”
Twenty-two seconds.
When a reporter posts on social media that Vladar is going through the starter routine at morning skate, that is roughly how long it takes for the fan base to be whipped into something between a frenzy and a furor.
We get it.
The Flames haven’t drafted and developed a stalwart twine-minder since Mike Vernon’s heyday as a homegrown star, but the 23-year-old Wolf sure seems to be on track to change that.
He has, over the past few months, lived up to the goalie-of-the-future hype — plenty for the home crowd to howl about, and then some. Thanks in large part to his superb splits at the Saddledome, he is even getting some love as a could-be contender for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
And his numbers, plain and simple, are better than his crease counterpart.
Wolf, who will be between the pipes for Saturday’s showdown against the Nashville Predators, has posted a 12-5-2 record with a 2.61 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.
Vladar is 6-8-5 with a 3.08 GAA and .888 save percentage. (It is worth noting the 27-year-old has been handed some of the tougher assignments, including more outings on the road and the second game of all four back-to-back sets so far.)
What many in the C of Red have been wondering is why, if the other stats aren’t especially even, is the workload still a split down the middle?
After another stingy performance from Wolf on New Year’s Eve, when he was fooled just once on 24 shots in a victory over the visiting Vancouver Canucks, there was criticism that they didn’t stick with the youngster for Thursday’s clash with Utah Hockey Club.
Vladar certainly wasn’t to blame for that 5-3 loss, but a 22-of-26 stat line won’t quiet the debate about whether the Flames should scrap the platoon approach as they push for a playoff berth.
The behind-the-scenes discussion at the Saddledome must also focus on what is best for Wolf in the long term, since the hope is that No. 32 will be the backbone for years to come. So how do you continue putting him in a position to succeed in his first full season in the NHL? How do you ensure that his confidence remains high? How much practice time does he need to stay sharp with what he considers the most important components of his game — good depth, being tall in his stance and being constantly aware of what’s happening around him?
“He’s going to start the next one, I can tell you that much, and we’ll see,” Huska replied when asked Friday about the possibility that Wolf could be poised to become more of a go-to guy. “Keep having good outings, and you’ll give yourself a chance to do that.
“We still look at opponent. We still look at rest and recovery for our goaltenders,” said the Flames’ bench boss in response to another question about his puck-stopping plan. “But a lot of it comes down to finding ways to win games too, because the area that we’re in, every point, every game, every win is so very important. If we have one of them that gets hot, I think it’s important that we can stay with them for a bit. And then hey, if the other guy happens to get hot, then we get to stay with that guy for a bit, too.
“But I do think it’s important that we find a way to go with the guy that’s really feeling it.”
Could that mean an end to the 50-50 split in Calgary’s crease? Could that 22-second gap grow and grow, whether that’s in favour Wolf or whether it’s Vladar who really gets into a groove and makes a case for more action?
It sounds like the coach is willing to be persuaded.