Chet Pickard

Chet Pickard ( ; born November 29, 1989) is a German-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.

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., 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.

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

On June 10, 2014, Pickard returned for another stint in Europe, signing a one-year contract to be the starting goaltender with Danish club Odense Bulldogs of the Metal Ligaen. 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 the backup to starting goaltender Mathias Lange. 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 would not re-new his contract.

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.

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.

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

International play

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

Personal Pickard was born in Moncton, New Brunswick to parents, Cathy and Dan. They later moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba when he was ten. His younger brother, Calvin, a second-round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2010, is also a professional goaltender, currently playing for the Minnesota Wild. He also has a sister, Kelly.

Pickard is married to Meghan Corbett; Meghan gave birth to their first child in October 2016.

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 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