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."

"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 on the subsequent journeys, which led to them being reunited.

The lessons that Blackwood and Wedgewood learned before coming to Colorado -- and what they've learned playing for the Avalanche -- have had a role in building one of the NHL's best goaltending tandems. It's the sort of partnership that could help guide the team to its fourth Stanley Cup.

"They were both still young and their personalities were different," said Rick Kowalski, who was their AHL coach with the Albany Devils. "They were both good teammates that were committed to getting better and wanting to develop before they would move on."

THOUSANDS OF HOCKEY PLAYERS -- drafted and undrafted -- shuffle through minor leagues like the AHL and ECHL. They do this with the hopes of reaching the NHL, while understanding that it might never happen. Teammates in those leagues who take different paths could eventually reach the same destination, whether it's with the team that drafted them or not.

That's what happened to Blackwood and Wedgewood when their paths crossed during the 2016-17 season in Albany.

Blackwood was making the transition from junior hockey in the OHL, and Wedgewood had three-plus seasons of pro experience, including in the ECHL, AHL and NHL.

Blackwood was trying to prove he could make it as a professional. Wedgewood was striving to show he could make it to the highest professional level. Soon, it would eventually turn into a three-goalie rotation that included Kenneth Appleby.

"I ended up living with Scott that year and it was an interesting dynamic," said Appleby, 31, who split the 2025-26 season between the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones and AHL's Toronto Marlies. "It was really good getting to know him and live with him. He was a few years older and had already played a couple years pro and showed me the ropes. He was such a great example to learn from."

Appleby said there was a point that season when all three were competing for one net but still maintained respect for one another.

"Scott pushed us every day in practice and with us being the younger guys, we were kind of chasing Scott," Appleby said. "We were learning from him and trying to be as good as him every day in practice. It made for really good competition and a really good dynamic within our group. We just kind of fed off one another."

Although Blackwood and Wedgewood were playing for the same team at the same time, they were maneuvering different challenges.

"Blackwood was young in a lot of areas. He was learning the pro game and learning how to live on his own," Kowalski said. "There were some things he did over the course of that season that a lot of the older guys, including coaches, just kind of made us shake our heads."

"He was basically built like an NFL linebacker. If he didn't play and I'm walking through the gym at night, he's in there squatting 305 pounds like it's nothing," Kowalski said. "We're having to keep him out of the gym. He also had a gym bag that he carried everywhere with him that was filled with snacks and supplements. I'll say this: He knew his body and it was not like he was eating junk."

Kowalski chuckles upon remembering the other items that made Blackwood a bit eccentric in nature as a young professional. He recalled how Blackwood once used his couch cushion as a pillow to sleep on the team bus. Or how the coaching staff worked with him to develop stronger time management skills.

"I remember I had to sit him down because he'd be rolling in at 9 a.m. for our meeting with a coffee and an egg sandwich or something else in his hand as the meeting's starting," Kowalski said. "I had to explain to him, 'Blackie, your day doesn't start after the team meeting. You have to be ready to go.' We had baby steps with him and he would learn how to be a pro."

Mackenzie Blackwood had ability as a prospect but needed to adopt more professional habits, according to his coach. Graig Abel/Getty Images

Wedgewood's experience was quite different at the start of that season.

He 2016-17 thinking that there was a competition between him and Blackwood to be the first called up by the Devils.

Wedgewood said he viewed it as his window closing while Blackwood's had just opened.