Scott Wedgewood on Mental Shift That Changed His NHL Career
- Wedgewood identified a specific thinking pattern early in his career that was quietly working against him — and most goalies share it.
- Going 6-0 in the playoffs only to lose the net after one bad game is a pressure test few goalies face. How he handled it reveals everything about his mental framework.
- The Jennings Trophy-winning tandem with MacKenzie Blackwood split starts nearly evenly — which means Wedgewood had to be ready to start cold at any moment.
- Wedgewood names exactly what he was leaving 'untapped' — and the specific mental shift he made to fix it is explained in the full article.
- The 'realist' trap Wedgewood describes — running what-if scenarios while waiting for the puck — is something almost every goalie does without realizing the cost.
It takes eight wins to make it to a Conference Final in the NHL.
Scott Wedgewood won the first six in a row for the Colorado Avalanche to open the Stanley Cup Playoffs, starting with a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. But a single loss, in Game 3 of their second-round series against the Minnesota Wild, was all it took for Wedgewood to cede the net to partner MacKenzie Blackwood, who won Game 4 to give Colorado a 3-1 series edge.
Given the tandem won the Jennings Trophy this season while splitting starts almost evenly, it seemed likely Blackwood would go on his own run. Except Blackwood stumbled out of the gate in Game 5, giving up three goals on 13 shots, and Wedgewood returned to the net and made seven saves as the Avalanche stormed back to win 4-3 in overtime and advance to the West Final.
There was a time in Wedgewood’s career when a situation like that might have gotten to him, but he spoke the about the mental approach that allowed him to stop overanalyzing the game on Episode 183 of the InGoal Radio Podcast back in August of 2022.
Wedgewood describes the exact thought that used to spiral through his mind mid-game — 'If they come down and score' — and the moment he realized what it was costing him. What he did to shut it off comes next.
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