I spoke with the always classy and accessible
Calvin Pickard on Thursday, and can only hope the new Vegas goalie gets more support -- at both ends of the ice -- with the Golden Knights than he did with the Avalanche, especially last season.
"I was pinching myself this morning," he said from his Winnipeg home in a phone interview. "I've never been moved or traded ... it still hasn't quite set in.
"My Twitter feed's been going pretty crazy here. It's pretty cool to see all the support from Avs fans, to see how many people enjoyed me playing there. I enjoyed every second of it in Denver. I loved every bit of it, every aspect. The fans were great to me."
There's no reason why the fans in Las Vegas won't feel the same way.
The NHL released the complete
AVALANCHE REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE on Thursday.
"It's sad to leave the Avalanche, but it's going to be a very good opportunity for me, an expansion team, very cool city, a lot of buzz around the team, great arena, great fans and an organization that's set up," said Pickard, 25, who has one year left on his contract with a very amenable $1 million salary cap hit. "It's definitely an exciting time around that team and I'm looking forward to getting it all going."
Pickard watched the NHL awards ceremony and Vegas' selections on TV Wednesday night with family members at his Winnipeg home, but he'd already been informed by his agent (
Rich Winter) and Golden Knights general manager
George McPhee that his name would be called.
"I talked to George for a couple minutes," he said. "He called me while he was on his way to the T-Mobile Arena. He said he was happy to have me aboard, and I said I was excited for the opportunity. He's a pretty busy man right now. I think we're going to talk again, maybe next week."
Vegas' choices were announced in reverse order of the 2016-17 standings; Colorado finished 30th with 48 points, so Pickard's name was called first.
"It was definitely weird, just sitting at home with the family and knowing it was going to happen," said Pickard, who was with his parents, fiancée (he's getting married next summer), brother, sister, brother-in-law and sister-in law.
"Making it official on TV, that was a big moment. My phone was going crazy with all the messages. It was pretty cool. I'm definitely grateful for the opportunity. I'm excited that I'm wanted in Vegas and I'm looking forward to working with the whole new organization.
"I've never actually spent much time in Vegas. I'm sure I'll make it down there this summer before training camp and check things out. It's going to be a cool city."
Even with temperatures hovering around 115 degrees Fahrenheit this week.
The heat was on in Colorado this past season when the Avalanche finished with by far their worst record since the franchise moved to Denver in 1995.
"It was a tough year," Pickard said. "I'm trying to be positive from it. I played a lot of games in a lot of different situations. The finish to my season wasn't great."
Pickard, who was Colorado's second-round pick (No. 49) in the 2010 NHL draft, played in a career-high 50 games with
Semyon Varlamov out to recover from surgery on each of his hips. He went 15-31-2 with a two shutouts, a 2.98 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
That followed a rookie season in 2014-15 when he had a 6-7-3 record with a 2.35 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He was 7-6-1 in 2015-16 with a 2.56 goals-against average with a shutout and .922 save percentage.
Pickard regained some lost confidence after this past season by backstopping Team Canada to a silver medal in the IIHF World Championships.
"It was nice to get the opportunity to go over and play for Team Canada, and not only be a part of the team but to be a starter and play in the important games," he said. "I thought I held my own, played well over there and kind of had a bit of a consolation to the season. I was definitely happy about that. I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and getting back on the ice and getting ready to being a Golden Knight.
"I'm definitely grateful for the opportunity. I'm excited that I'm wanted in Vegas and I'm looking forward to working with the whole new organization."
Did Pickard expect the Avalanche to leave him unprotected for the expansion draft?
"For some of the year it kind of went back and forth," he said. "I totally see the reason why. Varly is one of the most exciting and best goalies in the league when he's healthy. He's the guy. He's the No. 1 goalie as long as he's healthy.
"But I didn't think I was going to get picked up until a couple days ago when I started reading some stuff and seeing that it was a possibility. It became a reality really quick after that."
Pickard said he got a call Wednesday from Avalanche general manager
Joe Sakic before the league ceremonies.
"He just kind of gave me an update and thanked me," Pickard said. "I thanked them for the opportunity. It was a pretty simple phone call. He treated me with respect with the Avalanche. I was drafted there almost seven years to the day. It's a first-class organization and they treated me so well. They played me throughout the minors, throughout all the tough times and the good times. I owe them a lot of credit."
The Golden Knights also selected goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury from Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh and
Jean-Francois Berube from the New York Islanders. Pickard likely will be the team's backup.
"Well, Fleury's there, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a great team guy," Pickard said. "I've never heard a bad thing about him. I'm excited to play with him. I just want to excel when I get my opportunities and make the team feel confident that I'm going to do the job back there. It's definitely an exciting time for everybody. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Sakic told the Avalanche web site: "First, we want to wish Calvin all the best with Vegas. We knew that losing a player was going to be part of the expansion process. Calvin is a good teammate and an even better person, and we'd like to thank him for everything he did during his time with us.
"We are very confident that Varly will be back to form as our No. 1 goalie, and we feel that the procedures he had done will keep him healthy."
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