Before an Avalanche practice in Centennial last week, was in the net on Family Sports Center’s second rink, working at quickly moving from post to post under the watch of renowned part-time goaltending coach Francois Allaire. A handful of his teammates had joined Pickard, and they compliantly broke around the net and attempted wraparounds before moving on to pepper Pickard — say that fast three times — with other types of shots as Allaire periodically talked with another of his protégés.
It is part of the continuing education for the Avalanche’s 24-year-old backup goaltender.
After dividing time between Colorado’s American Hockey League affiliates and the Avalanche the past two seasons, Pickard is entrenched as ‘s backup and at times has played well enough to bring the words “goaltending controversy” into play — especially when Varlamov, as has been the case for stretches so far this season, has struggled.
With Varlamov on the verge of recovering from his latest bout with groin muscle issues, Pickard will get his third consecutive start Sunday afternoon against the in Manitoba’s frigid capital. That’s also significant because Winnipeg is Pickard’s hometown. It will be his first NHL start there and as of Friday, his teammates already were starting to consider him personally responsible for the frigid conditions they would encounter. (How frigid? How does a high of minus-13 fahrenheit Sunday sound?)
Granted, slightly more than half the Avalanche roster are Canadians accustomed to sub-freezing temperatures in late fall and winter, and the remainder hail from nations not mistaken for Bali, either.
But minus 13?
“I’m nervous,” Pickard said Friday. “A couple of guys have already asked me. But once we get to Winnipeg and walk off that plane, I’m going to have a lot of people angry at me for sure. It’s just the way it is this time of year. It’s cold and windy and it’s not fun.”
Pickard, who was born in New Brunswick but moved to Winnipeg as a youngster, has played in his hometown against the Manitoba Moose while with the Avs’ AHL affiliates at Cleveland and San Antonio, but not for the Avalanche.
“It would be a great experience,” he said. “There would be a lot of family and friends there.”
After he had a lackluster game in allowing three goals on 23 shots in the careening Avalanche’s 3-1 loss to Florida Friday night, Pickard is 5-5-1 in 12 games, with a 2.88 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. For the third time this season, Varlamov didn’t suit up because of injury, with Spencer Martin backing up Pickard. The Avalanche has the fewest points in the NHL and has a seven-game winless streak at home, and Pickard hasn’t been immune to the malaise of late. After a strong first month, he has lost his last three starts and is 1-4-1 in his last six.
“I like the start to my season, and my last few games haven’t gone the way we wanted or I wanted,” Pickard said after the morning skate Friday. “Varly went down for a couple of days, and that’s what a good backup is here to do and you have to step in and give your team a chance to win every time you’re out there.”
Varlamov is under contract through 2018-19, with a $5.9 million annual cap hit. If he doesn’t play the vast majority of the games and play at an elite level, he’s a wasteful drain on the Avalanche salary cap. If he plays well, he’ll be worth it. So he’ll get every chance to succeed … and fail. It’s possible Colorado will leave him unprotected in the expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights, assuming that salary will scare off the Knights, or being willing to live with the possibility of losing him — and his salary — and going with Pickard.
As a restricted free agent, Pickard signed a new two-year, $2-million contract with the Avalanche on July 5.
“I’ve had a lot of chances to play the last couple of years,” Pickard said. “Things change. It’s nice to get opportunities, and it seems like everybody needs a good backup these days to play 25 to 35 games, and that’s a pretty solid workload. I don’t worry about the contracts or anything like that. If I play well consistently everything will take care of itself.”
That said, he hasn’t accepted being a career backup.
“I realize the situation I’m in,” he said. “But of course I want to play, of course I want to be a starter. That’s why you play the game. Everybody wants to play as much as they can. But the main goal is to help our team to get to the playoffs. … I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities and taking advantage of them.”
Avalanche captain said of Pickard: “He’s proven time and time again that he’s more than capable of making a difference in this league and he gives us a chance to win a hockey game every time he’s between the pipes. There have been some hiccups this season, but that’s based on our team and that’s on us.”
Landeskog said Pickard has “the perfect temperament” to handle going in and out of the crease.
“He’s very positive, very social, likes to have a good time,” Landeskog said. “He likes to keep us loose and at the same time, when it’s go time, he’s focused and he’s one of the hardest-working guys in this dressing room, along with Varly. Those two are kind of driving the bus when it comes to work ethic.”
Avalanche coach said Pickard “has got that mentality that in any situation we put him in, he’s going to be battling. That’s the type of mentality you need from a guy who serves as your 1B.”
Pickard was the Avalanche’s second-round pick in 2010, after the second of what turned out to be his four seasons in major junior with the Seattle Thunderbirds. After turning pro in 2012, he eventually played 142 AHL games with Lake Erie and 21 last season with San Antonio.
He was in the net in 16 games for the Avalanche in 2014-15, going up and down from the AHL while operating as Varlamov’s de facto backup because of Colorado’s lack of faith in Reto Berra. Then Pickard again was recalled from San Antonio on Christmas Day 2015, after Berra — who was back in the Avs’ good graces and had outplayed Varlamov up to that point — suffered a high ankle sprain in the pre-game soccer kibitzing in the hallway and went on the injured list. After Berra’s prolonged recovery, which left the Avalanche soured and again questioning his work ethic, he spent the rest of the season with San Antonio and was traded to Florida in the offseason, with Colorado instead committing to Pickard.
“I owe a lot to Colorado,” Pickard said. “They stuck with me through the minor leagues and they’ve been a huge help to me, since Day One, since they drafted me. The development crew, the minor league coaching staff, they played me and went through ups and downs with me and stuck with me and really gave me a chance a couple of years ago to play at this level.
“I thought I played pretty well and I thought I made a good first impression and they committed to me, giving me that contract offer. It means a lot, it means they believe in me and have confidence in me. That does a lot for me as well. I feel comfortable going into the net every night for this organization and I don’t see that changing.”
Pickard called his relationship with Varlamov “fantastic.” The contrast is noticeable: Varlamov, who also has to deal with the language barrier, tends to be stoic. Pickard is outgoing. “We are great friends,” Pickard said. “There’s only two of us here and we have to share experiences and talk about different things about goaltending.”
Also, despite the departure of Patrick Roy, Allaire’s most famous pupil, Allaire has remained with the organization for the final year of his contract, spending time with the with the Avalanche and its goalies.
“He’s awesome,” Pickard said. “He’s the best. Mentally, we talk about different things. Going through the downs, he was on the road last week in Montreal, so it was good to talk to him about that. The other night against Phily, I thought I had a good effort, but four goals on 25 shots, it’s not result you’re looking for.
“He just says stick to the plan, these things happen, goals are going to go in, good players are going make good plays on big breakdowns. He believes in me, which is nice as well, and coming in for practice, we get a lot of good time to work on different things. We see different situations in games where I get scored on for whatever reason, we’ll work on it in practice and get better at it. It’s a non-stop learning process for a guy like me.”
COLORADO AT WINNIPEG, 1 p.m. Sunday, ALT, 950 AM
Spotlight on: Dustin Byfuglien. The hulking Winnipeg defenseman leads all NHL players with 915:21 of total ice time and a 27:44 per-game average. He’s the only player to have played more than 900 minutes. Byfuglien also leads the Jets with 93 shots but he has yet to score on the power play.
NOTEBOOK:
Avalanche — All 23 players practiced Sunday including three goalies, each of whom are on the two-game trip that includes Tuesday’s game at Minnesota. Spencer Martin will back up starting goalie Calvin Pickard on Sunday unless Semyon Varlamov (groin injury) is deemed 100 percent. Varlamov is the likely starter Tuesday. … Colorado has the NHL’s fewest points (23) but is 7-7 on the road. … Avs coach Jared Bednar finished practice with fun Sunday by officiating a breakaway contest. Nathan MacKinnon won with Mikko Rantanen the runner-up.
Jets — They are 7-4-1 against Central Division teams, including 4-0 at home where they have outscored their divisional foes 19-3. They have shut out their last two Central opponents at home — Nov. 15 vs. Chicago and Nov. 27 against Nashville. Overall, the Jets are on a three-game winning streak against Central teams. … Winnipeg is just 2-for-22 (9 percent) on the power play in its last seven home games. The Jets have given up a power-play goal their last four games and are 8-for-16 (50 percent) on the penalty kill during that stretch.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
