{"id":610188,"date":"2026-04-17T12:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610188\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:34:09","slug":"he-turns-size-into-motivation-calgary-flames-goalie-inspires-young-fan-to-dream-big-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/610188\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018He turns size into motivation\u2019: Calgary Flames goalie inspires young fan to dream big – Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a whirlwind few days for 10-year-old Kade Heisler. Sitting in the Saddledome Tuesday, watching the Calgary Flames<\/a> take on the Colorado Avalanche, he never thought he\u2019d be back just two days later watching the Flames\u2019 pre-game skate, nevermind getting to meet his hockey hero.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a really cool moment,\u201d said Kade. \u201cI\u2019ve never been to an NHL practice before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young fan first caught the Calgary netminder\u2019s attention with a sign at Tuesday\u2019s game that read \u201cWolf you are my idol,\u201d but it was Kade\u2019s reaction to being gifted a stick that made the highlight reel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave me a thumbs up,\u201d said Kade. \u201cI was happy that he acknowledged it \u2014 that would have been enough, and then I saw a hockey stick coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cJust the pure emotion, the love, the happiness, it goes a long way,\u201d Flames goalie Dustin Wolf said about Kade\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

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The moment, caught on the game broadcast, went viral online, kicking off a series of interviews for Kade and earning him the invitation back to the Dome to meet Wolf. It was an introduction Kade says means more than just meeting a favourite player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re short or tall. You can still cover the same amount of net, and he turns size into motivation,\u201d explained Kade of his admiration of Wolf.<\/p>\n

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As a goalie himself, Kade often gets picked out for his size, and heading into U13 hockey he\u2019s going to have to work extra hard in the crease with skills he\u2019s picking up watching Wolf.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be a small goalie and he\u2019s going to be towered over,\u201d said Kade\u2019s mom, Kimberly Komarniski. \u201cSo, he\u2019s going to have to learn how to take those tactics onto the ice and use them to his advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dustin Wolf made his Flames debut in April 2023, quickly proving to be a force between the pipes, earning himself a spot as a fan favourite. But standing six feet tall and weighing 166lbs, he\u2019s considered undersized for a goalie.<\/p>\n

For young hockey hopefuls, like Kade Heisler, Wolf is proving that no matter your size, there is always a reason to dream big.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a whirlwind few days for 10-year-old Kade Heisler. Sitting in the Saddledome Tuesday, watching the Calgary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,762,48,44788,44],"class_list":["post-610188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-flames","tag-canada","tag-dustin-wolf","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}