Pickard's patience has served him well as a goaltender, whether he's been facing opposing shooters or waiting for opportunities to showcase his game in the NHL.
Colorado's second-round pick (No. 49) in the 2010 NHL Draft, Pickard positions himself farther back in the crease than most goalies. Instead of aggressively coming out to cut down angles for shooters, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Pickard tries to be efficient with his movement and rely on reaction time to stop pucks.
Pickard's patience has served him well as a goaltender, whether he's been facing opposing shooters or waiting for opportunities to showcase his game in the NHL.
Colorado's second-round pick (No. 49) in the 2010 NHL Draft, Pickard positions himself farther back in the crease than most goalies. Instead of aggressively coming out to cut down angles for shooters, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Pickard tries to be efficient with his movement and rely on reaction time to stop pucks.
Twice during the 2012-13 season he served as an idle backup for the Avalanche. The Winnipeg-born Pickard finally made his NHL debut in relief of an injured Reto Berra on Oct. 16, 2014, stopping 23 of 27 shots in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Pickard made his first NHL start two nights later and stopped 33 of 36 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
He earned his first NHL victory on Nov. 22, 2014, relieving Berra and stopping all 17 shots he faced as Colorado rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. That made Pickard the second goalie in franchise history to earn his first win in relief (Brian Ford did it for the Quebec Nordiques on Dec. 27, 1983, against the Hartford Whalers).
In Colorado's next game, Pickard again replaced Berra and stopped all 25 shots he faced as the Avalanche came back for a 4-3 overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes. Pickard was the first goalie in League history to earn his first two wins in relief appearances in back-to-back games and just the fifth goalie to earn relief wins in consecutive games.
That season Pickard set Avalanche rookie records with a shutout streak of 149:24 from Oct. 18 to Nov. 26 and a 47-save performance in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 18, 2014. Pickard appeared in 16 games, and his .932 save percentage would have ranked second in the league in 2014-15 if he had appeared in the required 25 games.
Pickard earned his first NHL shutout on Jan. 14, 2016 when he made 27 saves in a 3-0 win against the New Jersey Devils. On March 3, 2016, Pickard set an Avalanche record for saves in a period, stopping all 24 shots he faced in the third period of a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers. After the 2015-16 season, Colorado traded Berra and signed Pickard to a two-year contract.
