Chet Pickard
Pickard with the Grizzlys Wolfsburg in 2022
Born (1989-11-29) November 29, 1989 (age 34)
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 216 lb (98 kg; 15 st 6 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Milwaukee Admirals
Djurgårdens IF
Oklahoma City Barons
Odense Bulldogs
Iserlohn Roosters
Adler Mannheim
Grizzlys Wolfsburg
NHL Draft 18th overall, 2008
Nashville Predators
Playing career 2009–2022

Chet Pickard (born November 29, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He most notably played in the American Hockey League and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He holds a German passport.[1]

Playing career

Pickard played minor hockey with the Winnipeg Monarchs before joining the major junior ranks with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 2005–06. He played backup to Carey Price in his first two seasons, then took over the starting position in 2007–08 as Price graduated to the Montreal Canadiens. Pickard won 46 games, was named CHL Goaltender of the Week on December 9, 2008.,[2] and posted a 2.32 goals against average (GAA) and .920 save percentage, en route to succeeding Price as CHL Goaltender of the Year. He was additionally awarded the Del Wilson Trophy as the top WHL goaltender and was named to the WHL West and CHL First All-Star Teams.

Pickard playing for the Nashville Predators in a rookie game vs. the Florida Panthers

In the off-season, he was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the first round, 18th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. In 2008–09, he recorded a 2.28 GAA and .921 save percentage, while helping lead the Americans to their second straight U.S. Division title. He was nominated for his second Del Wilson Trophy opposite Braden Holtby of the Saskatoon Blades[2] and named to the WHL West First All-Star Team.

Pickard played most of the 2010–11 season with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL and Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. During the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs he was called up to the Nashville Predators before their 2nd round series with the Vancouver Canucks; however, he did not get into a game.[citation needed]

In the 2012–13 season, Pickard signed his first contract abroad in agreeing to a one-year deal with Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan side, Djurgårdens IF. In 45 games, Pickard earned a professional high 25 wins to help Djurgårdens advance to the Kvalserien playoffs.

Pickard returned to North America in the off-season and agreed to a try-out at the San Antonio Rampage training camp for the 2013–14 season.[3] He was later released by the Rampage before on November 8, 2013, he was signed to an AHL deal with the Oklahoma City Barons and then loaned to the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL.[4]

On June 10, 2014, Pickard returned for another stint in Europe, signing a one-year contract to be the starting goaltender with Danish club, the Odense Bulldogs of the Metal Ligaen.[5] At the starting goaltender with the Bulldogs, Pickard enjoyed a successful season in appearing in 36 games.

On May 22, 2015, Pickard left Denmark to sign an optional two-year deal with German club, Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL. He was slated to begin as backup to starting goaltender Mathias Lange.[6] In the 2016–17 season with the Roosters, Pickard appeared in 26 games with the Roosters, posting just 6 wins as Iserlohn finished out of playoff contention. On March 3, 2017, it was announced that Pickard opted for a new opportunity and would not re-new his contract.[7]

On April 28, 2017, Pickard decided to continue in the DEL, agreeing to a two-year contract to assume the backup duties with Adler Mannheim.[8]

After claiming the DEL Championship in his final season under contract with Mannheim in 2018–19, Pickard left as a free agent to sign a two-year contract with Grizzlys Wolfsburg on May 2, 2019.[9]

Following his third year with Grizzlys Wolfsburg in 2021–22 season, and despite being under contract, Pickard ended his 13-year professional career by announcing his retirement on July 26, 2022.[10]

Personal

Chet was born in Moncton, New Brunswick and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba when he was eleven.[11]

Chet's younger brother Calvin Pickard is also a professional goaltender, playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.[12] Chet is married to Meghan Corbett. Meghan gave birth to their first child in October 2016.

International play

Medal record
Representing  Canada
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Ottawa

Playing in his fourth junior season, Pickard was selected by Team Canada for the 2009 World Junior Championships.[13] He played in two games as backup to Dustin Tokarski of the Spokane Chiefs, helping Canada to their fifth straight gold medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2005–06 Tri-City Americans WHL 26 9 9 1 1270 62 3 2.93 .897 — — — — — — — —
2006–07 Tri-City Americans WHL 29 17 10 1 1577 75 1 2.85 .903 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .800
2007–08 Tri-City Americans WHL 64 46 12 4 3779 146 2 2.32 .918 16 11 3 1010 30 3 1.78 .937
2008–09 Tri-City Americans WHL 50 35 12 3 2947 112 6 2.28 .921 11 6 4 650 37 0 3.41 .877
2009–10 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 36 14 16 3 2024 96 1 2.85 .892 1 0 0 12 1 0 5.08 .900
2010–11 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 7 1 4 1 365 18 0 2.96 .899 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 29 9 14 3 1506 85 1 3.39 .877 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 32 14 12 2 1805 94 1 3.12 .890 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Djurgårdens IF Allsv 45 25 20 0 2650 95 5 2.15 .918 6 3 2 330 18 0 3.28 .895
2013–14 Bakersfield Condors ECHL 21 6 11 1 1106 59 0 3.20 .875 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 6 1 2 0 202 18 0 5.34 .854 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Odense Bulldogs DEN 36 — — — — — — 2.65 .909 4 — — — — — 2.73 .914
2015–16 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 26 11 13 0 1504 60 2 2.39 .932 2 0 1 80 7 0 5.25 .870
2016–17 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 26 6 14 0 1329 66 0 2.98 .920 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 Adler Mannheim DEL 16 5 9 0 866 35 3 2.42 .908 2 0 0 65 3 0 2.78 .880
2018–19 Adler Mannheim DEL 24 19 4 0 1379 45 3 1.96 .913 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Grizzlys Wolfsburg DEL 21 7 13 0 1203 65 0 3.24 .898 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Grizzlys Wolfsburg DEL 15 6 9 0 901 40 0 2.66 .909 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.000
2021–22 Grizzlys Wolfsburg DEL 16 8 8 0 952 46 1 2.90 .894 1 0 0 19 0 0 0.00 1.000
AHL totals 49 16 22 4 2591 132 1 3.06 .889 1 0 0 12 1 0 5.08 .900

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2009 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2 2 0 0 120 1 1 0.50 .975
Junior totals 2 2 0 0 120 1 1 0.50 .975

Awards and honours

Award Year
WHL
West First All-Star Team 2008, 2009
Del Wilson Trophy 2008, 2009
CHL First All-Star Team 2008
CHL Goaltender of the Year 2008
DEL
Champion (Adler Mannheim) 2019 [14]

References

  1. ^ "Chet Pickard". Iserlohn Roosters. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2016-02-02.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b "A look at the 2008-09 WHL Award Finalists". Western Hockey League. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  3. ^ "Rampage announce training camp roster". 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  4. ^ "Barons sign Chet Pickard to AHL contract". Oklahoma City Barons. 2013-11-11. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  5. ^ "Strong keeper gets sentence" (in Danish). Odense Bulldogs. 2014-06-10. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  6. ^ "Decision made on backup Goaltender" (in German). Iserlohn Roosters. 2015-05-22. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
  7. ^ "Roosters make initial personnel decisions" (in German). Iserlohn Roosters. 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  8. ^ "Eagles take Chet Pickard under contract" (in German). Adler Mannheim. 2017-04-28. Archived from the original on 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  9. ^ "New Goalkeeper: Grizzlys sign Chet Pickard" (in German). Grizzlys Wolfsburg. 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  10. ^ "Pickard ends career, Pogge comes" (in German). Grizzlys Wolfsburg. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "Pickard brothers hope to square off in NHL - Sportsnet.ca".
  12. ^ "San Antonio Rampage's Roster". San Antonio Rampage. Retrieved 2013-11-11.
  13. ^ "2009 IIHF World Junior Championship Roster". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  14. ^ "Adler Mannheim wins DEL". IIHF. 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-04-27.

External links

Awards and achievements Preceded byColin Wilson Nashville Predators first round draft pick 2008 Succeeded byRyan Ellis Preceded byCarey Price Winner of the WHL Del Wilson Trophy 2008, 2009 Succeeded byMartin Jones
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