“I don't look in the crowd,” Wolf admitted Wednesday about his typical in-game routine. I stay present in the game and don't get involved with anything outside of it.”
But when Head Equipment Manager Mark DePasquale pointed the youngster out to Wolf, he felt it necessary to pay it forward. Just like his idol did for him, back in the day.
“It's obviously an awesome thing that us as athletes get to do,” the netminder said. “It seems so simple, but it goes a long way.
“It's pretty neat to be part of it.”
It wasn’t so long ago that Wolf had his own childhood brush with NHL stardom. As a youngster growing up in California, Wolf idolized Jonathan Quick, and as a kid, got the opportunity to skate with Quick as a kid and get a jersey signed after a Kings game on his birthday.
Then, last month, that full-circle moment came to be. Wolf in one crease, Quick in the other beneath the bright lights of Madison Square Garden. Quick’s Rangers won that night, but for Wolf, it was still a bucket-list moment.
“That's been something I've been looking forward to my whole life,” he said. “It's funny, we've texted a few times the last couple years, and he actually said ‘Hopefully we get a matchup at the Garden one day.’ To get that and obviously post a shutout, I wouldn't expect anything less from him.
“I was going to try to connect with him in New York after the game, but I changed my phone number, so he texted my wrong number.”
Still, those memories persist. Quick sent Wolf a stick last season when the Rangers came to the Scotiabank Saddledome, something the Calgary netminder proudly keeps on display in his home.
