"Chet Pickard jumped in his car and left his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. En route to Milwaukee, he didn't turn on the radio. He barely made any phone calls on the 11-hour drive.

The Predators goaltending prospect was alone with his thoughts.

"I was just thinking. That time you spend in your head is the most important time," Pickard said. "It's good time to spend with yourself and reflect."

One year ago, the 2008 first-round draft pick came to Nashville hoping to compete for the backup goaltending position. But after a year of bouncing between the American Hockey League, East Coast Hockey League and — for a brief moment in the playoffs — the NHL, a humbled Pickard sounds ready for what should be his most pivotal camp as a professional."