Intervju med Djurgårdens Chet Pickard

I matchen Djurgården - Leksand släppte ju målvakten Chet Pickard ett riktigt skitmål. Skott från motsatta blålinjen som i och för styrdes på vägen. Men ett riktigt skit mål som han ska ta tusen av tusen. Jag blev lite nyfiken på hur han hanterar en sådan situation och mailade honom och frågade.

When you let one bad goal in, as today against Leksand. How do you do to go on and not let it get to you?

When you sign up to be a goalie.. You have to understand that if you make a mistake.. A red light goes on behind you, the play stops and the fans are either cheering or booing. To be a good goalie you have to have thick skin.. You can never be to high or to low.. If you make a huge save you can't get so excited that you aren't focused on the next play and same thing if you let in a bad goal.. You cannot let it affect the rest of your game. Against Leksand the other night when I gave up that bad goal, luckily we were up big at the point.. But I told myself, " hey you've played a great game so far.. Now it's a mental test.. You got 19 minutes left to make up for that goal you let in, forget about it and focus on the next play".... In that game it was nice we were able to joke around about it after the game.. Guys were asking if I was looking at girls in the stands... That wasn't the case.. I just made a mistake haha.

Foto: Helena Avermark

Do you have any trick for going on, and not let the goal get to you?

My trick to move on is experience and self talk... Over the years you learn how to react when giving up bad goals.. I learnt from Carey Price that no matter how mad you might be at yourself inside your head you can never show it.. Always take a deep breath, have some water and move on to the next situation. The words I use to move on are: Relax, trust your technique, trust yourself. Simple as that.

How do you want the players to support you after letting a shitty one in?

I was really happy the way the team responded when I let in that goal.. It didn't affect our teams game.. We marched forward like nothing happened. I'm a big boy, when something goes wrong I can handle it but in that case a bunch of guys came out and said some positive things to me which only helped the situation out even better. We have a very good group of guys.. I know I made a mistake and I deserved the jokes thrown my way after the game and the next day at practice.

Foto: Helena Avermark

Do you talk about those shitty goals with Anders when analysing the game? Or is it not necessary?

Anders and I talked after the game and watched video the next day.. Fortunately we didn't have the goal on video because I don't think anyone thought anything was going to happen from it. When you let in a goal like that its not a technique issue it's a mistake.. People make mistakes. The mistake I made was waiting for the puck to bounce rather than just attacking at it. There were a lot of positives for me personally in that game and the best thing was that I didn't let that goal affect the rest of my game and we went on to a great team win.

After playing 19 games, how do you think your game has been? Have the Djurgården fans seen the best of Chet or is it yet to come?

I think personally my season has been okay.. I want to win every game, and if you look at my record that isn't the case.. I think I have played very well but in some cases it hasn't been good enough to win. I work hard every day on and off the ice to improve each day. I feel like every time I step on the ice I am learning more and getting better.. Making small adjustments to my game to make me better and help our team win more games. Now we just got to win.

Foto: Helena Avermark

Jag gillar Chets svar här. Inga ursäkter, inget att skylla på. Jag gjorde ett misstag det gäller att gå vidare. Helt rätt! Gillar också hans inställnign till sitt eget spel, han har spelat bra men inte bra nog för att vinna varje match. Då ska ju gudarna veta att få av Djurgårdens förluster kan lastas på målvakterna. Om ens någon?!

Det är ju grymt viktigt som målvakt att kunna gå vidare, nollställa sig mentalt. För du kommer göra misstag, du kommer släppa in billiga mål. Så enkelt är det ju! Då gäller det ha en plan ett knep att gå vidare och inte låta det påverka ditt spel.

Tackar Chet som tog sig tid att svara på mina frågor!

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