Scott Wedgewood on Mental Shift That Changed His NHL Career

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.