SAN JOSE, Calif. — As Mackenzie Blackwood was peeling the tape away from his teal-infused goalie gear inside the very burgundy-and-blue home locker room at Ball Arena, a voice called out from across the room.

It was his new partner, Scott Wedgewood, who just days before was doing the same with navy blue and gold-laced pads.

“Don’t answer his questions,” Wedgewood warned.

It was in jest, of course. The questions were about him, and a relationship that spans nearly a decade.

The Avalanche has gone to unprecedented lengths in NHL history to overhaul its goaltending depth. Colorado traded its backup, Justus Annunen, for Wedgewood. Then, 10 days later, the Avs flipped Alexandar Georgiev for Blackwood.

They’re the first franchise in league history, according to TNT research, to trade both of its opening-night netminders before Christmas. The cost, particularly the extra parts of the Blackwood deal, was not cheap.

But the Avs are in Stanley Cup-or-bust mode, and the organization clearly did not believe the previous tandem could meet those expectations. Colorado has put its faith in two goalies who arrived in Denver with a ready-made bond. Blackwood and Wedgewood believe great days are ahead, both for the team and their friendship.

It wasn’t always that way.

A precarious start

The New Jersey Devils selected Blackwood in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft. After his most successful season in the OHL, the organization’s “goalie of the future” arrived in Albany to play for the team’s AHL affiliate at the tender age of 19.

Wedgewood was a third-round pick by the Devils in 2010. He had just turned 24 before training camp and had already logged four professional seasons with just four NHL games on his resume. He had also missed time with an injury the year before.

Then the new, shiny prospect showed up.

“It’s just one of those things where I look back on it and wish I was a little bit nicer to him,” Wedgewood said. “Not anything bad. It was just … new draft pick, a threat to my job. I was trying to get to the NHL.

“The team told me that he was playing once a week, no matter what my situation was. It was a new GM who didn’t draft me. It was nothing personal against (Blackwood), just the situation where it felt like this guy was coming in to take my job and I haven’t had the opportunity to keep it. I wish I had done better to wish him well. At this level, if he wins, we win. Back then, it felt like if he won and I lost, I was losing my career.”

Wedgewood’s ability to compete with Blackwood for playing time was further cut short by a season-ending shoulder injury. He only played 10 games that season, and an NHL future looked even further away.

Blackwood stepped in and led the club with 36 games played, the next step toward him reaching the NHL a few days after his 22nd birthday.

“Well, I was a little (expletive),” Blackwood said of his time as Wedgewood’s goaltending partner. “I’m sure we all mature and grow, but I can’t be happier with the man he is now. He’s really easy to get along with and a great friend. That’s just a part of growing.”

The Devils traded Wedgewood to the Arizona Coyotes early in the following season, and that’s when he got his first real NHL break. He bounced around after that, spending a year with Buffalo’s AHL club and then one playing for Tampa Bay’s top farm team.

He returned to New Jersey for the 2020-21 post-Covid pandemic season expecting to be the Devils’ No. 3 netminder — a role he had settled into, even if he wanted more. That opportunity arrived when the club’s big free-agent signing, Corey Crawford, suddenly retired after the first couple of days of training camp.

That meant Blackwood’s top competition for the starting job was gone, and he was reunited with Wedgewood — this time at the NHL level.

“When we got back together in 2021, it was completely different,” Wedgewood said. “Even he said to me one time, ‘You’re so much nicer now.’ And that was my own maturity. I was battling and trying to get to the NHL. I owned it. There was a threat in the American League. It’s a tough grind and you’ve got to get where you’re going.”

Maturity was a common thread between conversations with both goaltenders.

Blackwood’s long-term potential was obvious when he was a teenager. He arrived in New Jersey straight out of a goaltending laboratory with a huge frame and elite athletic ability.

When he’s right, Blackwood doesn’t just play well — he looks unbeatable.

“He’s super-athletic, kind of what every goalie is supposed to look like,” Wedgewood said. “You watch him, and it’s like, ‘This guy looks like a goalie.’ He moves like a goalie. He does the goalie things that I like to see. It’s a very appreciative watch as a fan of goalies.”

After two very promising seasons to start his NHL career with the Devils, including a call from Hockey Canada to represent his country at the 2019 IIHF World Championships, Blackwood’s path toward stardom took a hard turn.

The next three seasons were rough. New Jersey was a rebuilding team, but the transition to playoff-worthiness dragged on. There were injuries. There was inconsistency. When the Devils did finally reach the postseason in 2022, it was Akira Schmid, not Blackwood, who became the breakout playoff hero.

Questions about his maturity and whether he could reach his potential lingered.

“There was nothing bad (in Albany),” Wedgewood said. “It was just, you’re a young kid and there’s stuff like (missing) a bus time – just random stuff that isn’t a big deal, but it’s things you’ve got to learn and he was going through it.

“When we got back together, there were never any issues (in New Jersey). He was always a talented goalie who worked hard and wanted to win hockey games. The injuries aside, all that stuff just became a lot for him in New Jersey. I think the new chance in San Jose probably helped. Then obviously coming here, with what we’ve seen from this team, I know we are both excited to play behind them. The expectation to win, it puts a different mindset into your preparation.”

'I just think it will be perfect'

Blackwood received a fresh start from San Jose and a general manager (Mike Grier) who knew him well from their time in New Jersey together. He found himself, and his game went to a new level.

Wedgewood left New Jersey for Arizona (again) before being traded to Dallas during the 2021-22 season. He played 37 games across three teams that year but found a home with the Stars and his place as a full-time NHL goalie.

Now, they are together again for a third time.

“As he’s grown, his girlfriend and my wife know each other, so that’s nice to have another person that we can connect with,” Wedgewood said. “I just think it will be perfect, whatever the rotation turns out to be.

“Knowing him back then and just talking to him, you see the changes and we grow up. I don’t know if I’d want to meet myself back in 2012 just coming up as a young kid. I didn’t know a whole lot, and I wish I knew at that point what I know now. I could have been a better role model, or better veteran help. I was still young too. … I was 25 and didn’t know as much as I do at 32. I’m sure he would say the same thing.”

The early returns for the Avalanche have been excellent. Wedgewood had a .931 save percentage in his first five games for Colorado, including a perfect first outing to help the Avs rally from a 4-0 deficit in Buffalo, and the team’s first shutout of the season.

Blackwood had a .938 save percentage in his first three starts. He was brilliant in his home debut, which led to the Ball Arena patrons chanting his name multiple times. He out-played Georgiev in San Jose on Thursday night in a meeting between the two recently swapped netminders.

Goaltending has gone from the Avs’ glaring issue, aside from injury and availability issues, to a potential strength. And the foundation of that is a pair of guys with a non-linear path to this moment, both on and off the ice.

“Over the years, we’ve both matured and grown,” Blackwood said. “Growing together as people and we’ve become better friends. I’m thankful that we get to play together again, and I get to have a teammate like Scott to come to the rink with every day.”

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