Guess we all knew this was coming: the Avalanche have sent rookie goalie Calvin Pickard back to Lake Erie in the AHL, where he will be the No. 1 guy and have a better chance to hone his game.
Did he deserve to stay? Based on his play -- and that of struggling Reto Berra -- absolutely. But coach Patrick Roy and executive VP/general manager Joe Sakic didn't want him sitting on the bench as Semyon Varlamov's backup for long stretches when he's better off playing a lot, which he'll do with the Monsters.
"It was a process," Roy told reporters Tuesday. "Obviously we had the support from our ownership to do what is best for the team. We didn't have any pressure, we had their support. Joe and I, looking at it, we thought it would be better for him to play instead of sitting on the bench.
"You always want to see players making a good impression and this is exactly what he did. He made a great impression. I think our fans started to love him a lot and they were excited when he was making saves. He competes hard, he's working hard. I think our fans will understand that for his best interests it's going and playing a lot in Lake Erie.
"We will see him back one day and playing for us. The way he's been playing, the way he's been working, we're certainly extremely proud of him."
The Avalanche also reassigned center Colin Smith to Lake Erie and called up defenseman Karl Stollery. Smith made his NHL debut Monday in the Avalanche's 4-3 loss to Montreal. He had one shot in 6:06 of playing time and lost the puck in the Avalanche end early in the second period that turned into a scoring chance for the Canadiens and prompted Nate Guenin to take a slashing penalty. Montreal converted the ensuing power play to tie the game 2-2.
Pickard went 3-4-0 in Colorado with a 2.49 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Berra has a 2-2-1 record with a 3.57 GAA and .833 save percentage, numbers that obviously took a beating in his two most recent starts, when he got the hook in the first period in both games after allowing a combined six goals on 18 shots.
Berra is in the first year of a three-year, $4.35 million contract, but I have to believe that Pickard will be back sooner than later if Berra doesn't pick up his game big time -- and quickly. The Avalanche are going to have a difficult time as it is getting back into the playoff picture and can't afford to keep a backup goalie they can't depend on, especially in light of Varlamov's recent groin injuries.
"It's a good wakeup call for Reto," Roy said. "Reto now has company there and he's going to have to play hard. With the support of ownership one day if we feel that Reto's not playing up to what we expect, then we'll call (Pickard) up.
"Sometimes you have to look at what's best for the players and at the age of 22 I don't think I would have been very well served being on the bench. These were important years for me for my development and I played a lot -- 48, 50 games every year -- and I think that helped me to become the goalie I was.
"We were all very impressed with Calvin and we were really excited about the way he's been playing and I think our fans understand that sometimes you have to make tough decisions when they're in the best interests of the player."
Roy said Pickard understood why he was being sent back to Cleveland.
"He looked me right in the eyes and I think he was proud of the way he played," Roy said. "I think he was excited with how he played in those games and it was not an easy situation. I think he opened everybody's eyes and made a great statement for himself, and he should be proud. I said to him, 'Go there, work hard. If something happens to Varly or something, we know we can trust you to do a good job for us.' "
Varlamov, who hasn't played since Nov. 15, will start Thursday when the Avalanche plays in Calgary -- the Flames are much improved and looking at a playoff spot with Bob Hartley at the helm. Roy sounded as though Varlamov also will start Friday in Winnipeg.
"He'll start a lot of games," Roy said. "We're planning to use him a lot. I think he could have played (Monday), but like we said before, we wanted to be cautious with him and didn't want to take any chances. We want him to have three good practices before playing his first game and I think the schedule will make it a lot easier for him."