Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard had some extra spending money for Christmas, thanks to Reto Berra’s off-ice injury in Colorado’s last game before the holiday break.
Pickard base pay scale rose from $67,500 to $850,500 because Berra suffered an ankle injury playing soccer in a Pepsi Center hallway as a warm-up before the Dec. 21 game against Toronto.
Berra will miss about 10 days, the team said, and Pickard is the scheduled starter Monday at San Jose when the Avs conclude a consecutive-night set of games.
Pickard said he was called up from the minors Christmas Day, but he was told to expect the promotion days earlier. The NHL and its teams affiliated with the American Hockey League were shut down from Wednesday through Friday.
Pickard was enjoying the holidays in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, and traveled to Denver in the afternoon on Christmas Day. He is in his second stint with the Avalanche, having also played with the big club Nov. 11-22 when Semyon Varlamov was dealing with a groin injury.
Pickard played in two games, both in relief of Berra, and is 9-8-4 with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. He was the AHL goalie of the month for October after beginning 5-0-1. The Rampage has since struggled.
Head to head. The September trade swapping young defensemen Stefan Elliott and Brandon Gormley got a fair comparison Sunday. Elliott was drafted by Colorado in 2009 and traded to Arizona for Gormley, a 2010 Coyotes draft pick, just before training camp this season.
Gormley played in Avs’ Nov. 5 game at Arizona, but Elliott was injured at the time.
Gormley was scratched in the four previous games but cracked the lineup Sunday because Nate Guenin sat out for precautionary reasons after suffering a head injury last week against the Maple Leafs.
Footnotes. Colorado residents Brad Watson and Dave Jackson were the referees Sunday, and Front Range product John Grandt was one of the two linesmen. The NHL tries to limit travel for its on-ice officials over the holidays. … Colorado’s lone healthy scratch was forward Chris Wagner. … The Avs departed for San Jose after Sunday’s game.
