Is Scott Wedgewood Colorado’s starting goaltender?
Alright, let's huddle up and talk about the chaos in the Colorado Avalanche crease, because what's going down in Denver is giving us some serious preseason drama vibes, the kind you usually only get from a late-night NBA trade rumor mill. The Mile High Hockey Lab crew—Ezra Parter, Brennan Vogt, Jackie Kay, and host Adrian Hernandez—just dropped their latest podcast episode after the Avs swept their weekend back-to-back in western Canada, and the main topic in the group chat isn't just Nathan MacKinnon, who was just named the NHL's first star of the week, but the surprisingly sticky situation in net.The big question they're kicking around, the one that's got the whole fanbase side-eyeing each other on Twitter, is this: Is Scott Wedgewood legitimately Colorado's starting goalie right now? Let's be real, when the organization went out and made a substantial investment in Mackenzie Blackwood this past offseason, everyone just penciled him in as the undisputed number one. That was the plan, the long-term vision.But hockey, man, it rarely follows the script. Blackwood's been dealing with the whole 'rest and rehab' thing, which is front-office speak for 'we're not quite sure when he'll be 100%,' and in steps Wedgewood, who has apparently decided he's not just keeping the seat warm.The dude has been standing on his head, making key saves, and looking every bit like a guy who believes the crease is his. This isn't just some backup getting lucky for a game or two; this has the feeling of a guy seizing an opportunity, the way a sixth man in the NBA suddenly gets inserted into the starting lineup and never looks back.And the Avalanche front office might just be agreeing with that assessment. Right after the Lab crew finished musing on this very theory, the team went and signed Wedgewood to a one-year contract extension.That's not a move you make for a guy you see as a temporary fill-in; that's a 'we see you, and we want to make sure you stick around' move. Even head coach Jared Bednar shared some thoughts that seemed to align with this emerging narrative, giving Wedgewood the kind of public vote of confidence that usually precedes a solidified role.So, what does this mean for the Avs' goalie hierarchy? It throws the whole thing into a beautiful, messy, 'wait and see' pattern that is pure sports entertainment. Is this a genuine goalie controversy in the making? It sure has the early ingredients.You've got the established, big-money guy in Blackwood who is supposed to be the franchise cornerstone, and then you've got the journeyman, Wedgewood, playing with a chip on his shoulder and outright earning more starts. This is the kind of internal competition that can either make a team incredibly resilient or create a distracting rift in the locker room.For now, it seems to be fueling them, as the team keeps racking up wins. But the long game is still the big question.Once Blackwood is fully healthy, does Bednar just hand him the net back, regardless of how well Wedgewood is performing? Or has Wedgewood's play been so undeniable that he's forced the coaching staff to reconsider their entire timeline? This is the delicate dance of managing egos, contracts, and pure on-ice performance, a puzzle that every championship-contending team has to solve at some point. It's a great problem to have, but it's a problem nonetheless.The Bold Predictions segment on the podcast even saw some well-deserved 'DINGs' being handed out, including one to a listener, which just shows how engaged the fanbase is with this unfolding storyline. So, for the time being, the answer to Jackie Kay's question, as echoed by Ado and Ezra, is a resounding yes.Right now, this is Scott Wedgewood's net. And the most fascinating part of this entire saga is that nobody, not even the Avalanche themselves, might know for sure who it will belong to next month.
#Colorado Avalanche
#Scott Wedgewood
#goaltender
#contract extension
#Nathan MacKinnon
#Mile High Hockey Lab
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