Confirmed: David Wolf returns to the Hamburg Freezers

[Yamer]

Would have been a great 4th line guy with a bit of improvement, but Ferland does everything Wolf does and more. He's also already better at it, and has a much larger upside.

It's fascinating that he may not have generated some interest around the league. Or, maybe he's just more comfortable in Germany.

[Huntingwhale]

That's a shame if true. Players like him can completely dominate other leagues, then look out of place in the NHL. But just goes how hard it is to make it to the NHL and stay.

[Ozy_Flame]

I didn't think he was too out of place. Sometimes I think he'd be a better fit than Jooris, especially since he kind of tapered off and lost his spark towards the end of the season. Wouldn't mind seeing Jooris go at it again though in the Fall and then trying to make the same judgment call.

[Poe969]

I think it's better fit for him to head back. I loved his intensity but he was only really noticeable (in 3 games) when the play came to him. He just didn't have the wheels to be effective in the game.

He's a great worker with lots of hustle and I wish him the best, it's just too bad that the best fit for him isn't here.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I didn't think he was too out of place. Sometimes I think he'd be a better fit than Jooris, especially since he kind of tapered off and lost his spark towards the end of the season...

I'm pretty sure that he spent half the season playing through a wrist injury.

[GranteedEV]

I felt like he had a lot more to show but footspeed really was his downfall. I saw signs of a true power forward offensive game, something no one on the Flames including Ferland has really shown.

Maybe now he knows what he needs to do to become an NHLer, he goes back to Europe and works on the conditioning/skating/details and in a season he's a UFA and finds a job. Calgary was a bad fit for him because we already had like twenty left wings.

I still think he was more effective than Bollig out there on the ice though, in the games against San Jose and Edmonton he was positively noticeable.

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I'm pretty sure that he spent half the season playing through a wrist injury.

And went from playing half the season with guys like Giordano, Brodie, Hudler, and Gaudreau, to playing with Mason Raymond, Brandon Bollig, Colborne, and Engelland.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I was (and still will be until he signs somewhere else) looking forward to seeing Wolf this season. I think his conditioning just wasn't where it should be. Yes, his lack of footspeed kind of hurt his overall game, but I would have really liked to see him in camp after a season where he experienced how fast the NHL is, and how conditioned the athletes are here, as well as working within the Flames organization for his off-season training.

I still think he can be an NHL'er.

[CroFlames]

It's unfortunate for him if he does go back. When he was rumored to be coming over, Euro media hyped him up so much. I don't doubt he was a star in the DEL, so despite his lipservice, he probably thought he'd step right into the NHL in relatively short order.

I don't think his conditioning is a problem. I believe it comes down to his skating. There are guys who have reinvented the way they skate and carved out careers. I think he needs to drastically improve his skating, and he would have a shot. He has other tools that are NHL level already in my opinion, such as his shot, toughness, and hockey IQ. His positioning on the ice suffered due to his skating ability.

And like others have said, the other prospects leap frogged him in the chart, and that's just the business of hockey. I hope he stays and is determined to improve since he could be a potential weapon if and when guys like Jooris, Byron or Ferly go down with injury.

Best of luck to him either way. I enjoyed his Arny interviews on the Fan.

[Parallex]

I hope he does come back... I mean he's got all the propensity towards facepunching that Bollig has plus enough actual hockey skills to superceed him as a player.

[sureLoss]

Roger Millions @RogMillions
A Calgary source suggests Hamburger-Abendblatt report that LW David Wolf is heading back to Germany is accurate. Not surprising. #Flames

[GioforPM]

While Bollig is a pretty poor skater and a disaster advanced-stats wise, he is still a better overall hockey player than Wolf.

[Caged Great]

With Wolf being below average in the speed department, it isn't a shock that this happened. He's a good player though and I am disappointed that it didn't work out, but it's not like we don't have other similar players coming up as well.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Roger Millions @RogMillions
A Calgary source suggests Hamburger-Abendblatt report that LW David Wolf is heading back to Germany is accurate. Not surprising. #Flames

Shooting off on a tangent here.

There is a reasonable chance that you are the source.

Whats it like scouring for scoops on great news items only to have local reporters on a salary regurgitate your information and they get paid for it? they could at least credit you/this site.

Bibliographies used to be so important.

[Dajazz]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

Shooting off on a tangent here.

There is a reasonable chance that you are the source.

Whats it like scouring for scoops on great news items only to have local reporters on a salary regurgitate your information and they get paid for it? they could at least credit you/this site.

Bibliographies used to be so important.

Sureloss is Skynet, he has no feelings

[Locke]

Thats a shame, but at the end of the day he had his shot and other guys passed him on the depth chart.

I wish Wolf all the best. Rock the Flaming C over in Germany!

[Galakanokis]

There was a lot to like about Wolf but quite simply his skating was not near NHL level and doubtful at his age if that can be fixed. He was/is behind Ferland, Jooris, Shore? Lots of guys in front of him.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

There was a lot to like about Wolf but quite simply his skating was not near NHL level and doubtful at his age if that can be fixed. He was/is behind Ferland, Jooris, Shore? Lots of guys in front of him.

Totally agree. Not sure how you fix that stride.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Auf Wiedersehen Herr Wolf. Die besten Wünsche für die Zukunft.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Tawiskaron

Since when do machines sleep?

All the time, it's called sleep mode.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Didn't he have a decent AHL year? I still think he can play in the NHL, it'll just unfortunately not be with us.