The whirlwind continued for Tyson Jost on Saturday, when he took part in his first full team practice before the Avalanche left for Minnesota and Sunday's game against the Wild.
"It was nice to just get used to everyone, get on the ice with the guys in a non-game situation," said Jost, 19, who was Colorado's first-round pick (No. 10) in the 2016 NHL draft. "It was good, it was fast. At North Dakota they really stressed having pro-type practices, so that's something that I'm used to. They really set me up to succeed at this place, and it's been fun so far."
After signing his three-year, entry-level contract on Wednesday following his freshman season with the Fighting Hawks, Jost arrived in Denver on Thursday to take a physical, meet his new teammates at the suburban practice facility and get in some on-ice work with a few players, including Matt Duchene.
Jost made his NHL debut on Friday in the Avalanche's 2-1 shootout win against St. Louis at the Pepsi Center with several family members in attendance, including his mom, uncle and grandfather.
"Amazing, a dream come true. It was a great experience, especially with having them come down," Jost said. "I owe so much to them. It was just an awesome experience, to say the least."
Jost played 13:25 and centered a line with Matt Nieto and Rene Bourque. He had two shots on goal, a hit, takeaway and blocked shot, and won five of 10 faceoffs. Coach Jared Bednar also used him in the second round of the shootout, but he was stopped by goalie Jake Allen.
The Avalanche had a 1-0 lead after the first round because Duchene opened with a goal and Calvin Pickard denied Alexander Steen.
"We were talking on the bench about a number of options," Bednar said. "I wanted to put him in a situation -- I know our fans wanted to see it, we wanted to see it. That's one of the things we can do because of where we're at in the standings. But I wanted to get him a lead too. When Duchene buried that one and Pick made a big save on Steen, he can go out and shoot with no pressure on him."
Bednar said he'll stick with the same lineup against the Wild, so Jost will be back with Nieto and Bourque.
"I think he got better yesterday as the game went on, but he didn't see a whole lot of ice time last week," Bednar said. "He slipped out on the ice for 20 minutes on the day he got his physical and then he went out a little bit yesterday morning, so to get out with the group a little bit and feel more comfortable around them and in a team setting I think is going to be good for him."
Jost said he felt "a little sluggish" in the first period and became more comfortable the rest of the way.
"I just have to keep that going into the next game," he said. "The guys have done a good job of kind of easing me into things, giving me advice and making me feel welcome here."
Jost expects to have more support in Minnesota, along with his mom and grandfather.
"Minnesota's not too far from North Dakota, so a lot of friends will come down from Grand Forks," he said. "It'll be nice to see them. They mean a lot to me, they made my year there very enjoyable. I have a lot of my best friends there; they'll be my brothers for life. That's one thing you realize, at college you get some friends that will last a lifetime."
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University of Denver captain and defenseman Will Butcher is one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the Heisman Trophy for NCAA hockey. The others are Northeastern's Zach Aston-Reese and Union's Mike Vecchione, both forwards. The winner will be announced next Friday on the NHL Network at 6 p.m. ET.
Butcher, 22, is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He was the Avalanche's fifth-round pick (No. 123) in 2013. A senior, he has seven goals, 29 assists, 18 penalty minutes and a plus-25 rating in 41 games this season.
Top-ranked Denver plays Notre Dame (and Avalanche 2016 second-round pick Cameron Morrison) next Thursday in a Frozen Four semifinal in Chicago.