How the Avalanche's 'Lumber Yard' goalie tandem was built - ESPN

Goaltending tandems can be created overnight. That's what the Colorado Avalanche did when they traded for Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood within days of each other during the 2024-25 season.

As for creating an authentic relationship between those goalies — beyond presenting the harmonious image of saying nice things about each other while smiling for the cameras?

That takes time. While Denver is where «The Lumber Yard» tandem is on display, Albany, New York is where the seeds were planted almost a decade earlier.

«We've played together in the past and we have that familiarity from before,» Blackwood said. «I don't know how to describe it. It's just kind of the way he is. He's a really easy guy to be friends with. He's very vocal and happy-go-lucky and it's easy to balance stuff off a guy like that. It just kind of flourishes into what it is now.»

Wedgewood echoed a similar sentiment.

«I think what we've both found is you are walking on your path, but we can be side-by-side together,» Wedgewood said. «We do feel like we can be cheering each other on and we don't want each other to fail. Because then our team fails.»

To understand where Blackwood and Wedgewood are now, it's helpful to examine their hockey journeys, which both began in the New Jersey Devils' farm system.

Wedgewood, 33, was a third-round pick in 2010, drafted with the promise he could become an NHL goaltender someday. Blackwood, 29, was selected in the second round in 2015, with the profile of someone whose athleticism and physical stature meant he could be a No. 1 option in the future.

But what they each encountered to reach the NHL couldn't be hypothesized or projected. It had to be endured, and led them to going separate ways. They found success