With all the fuss being made — rightfully so — about starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, a quality young goaltender by the name of Calvin Pickard has flown under the radar. Not anymore.
Today, Pickard took to Twitter to answer some fan questions and to discuss the process of crowdsourcing a new mask design. Folks, I haven’t seen a Pickard face this many questions since Patrick Stewart at Comic-Con.
Here are some key takeaways:
- A hot dog is not a sandwich, and they are not going to appear on his mask, but that didn’t stop us from asking./
No hot dog on my mask. Not a sandwich. But haven’t had a hot dog in a while, so that might be on tap this weekend. –CP #PicksMaskContest https://t.co/EON0ZbUstD
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
This caused turmoil within the Knights On Ice staff, as writer Ryan Quigley is firmly entrenched in the hot-dog-is-a-sandwich camp. Manager Danny Webster just likes hot dogs and cares not for this debate. In Pickard’s defense, hot dog eating GOAT Joey Chestnut believes that the tasty franks are their own entity.
- He’s stoked to work with Marc-Andre Fleury:/
Really excited. Unbelievable teammate. Three Stanley Cups. I can’t wait to work with him. –CP #PicksMaskContest https://t.co/tFzOFNb1Yv
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
- He is a big-time Shea Theodore believer:/
Very excited. I played with Shea my last year of junior. It was his 1st year and he was our best player. He’s silky. –CP #PicksMaskContest https://t.co/rNsA06wvgV
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
- He thinks the T-Mobile Arena is pretty from the outside, and we have to agree with him./
- He has a dog named Ari, a Mini Australian Shepherd./
A few people have asked for pictures of my dog. So here you are. –CP #PicksMaskContest pic.twitter.com/6jnzB1a3FN
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
- He got his name from Calvin and Hobbes, which should surely endear him to SB Nation’s own Jon Bois:/
I actually got called Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes growing up. –CP #PicksMaskContest https://t.co/7XVotVJ8y2
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
- He lives for the pressure of being a goalie—it is in his blood: /
My brother, Chet. He was three years older than me. I like the pressure of playing goalie. –CP #PicksMaskContest https://t.co/mGnVYxUYPQ
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) August 4, 2017
Also, shoutout to Anthony Sanrocco, who is not afraid to ask the tough questions:
Calvin since moving to vegas have u ever been in the mood for Chinese food and if yes, have you acted on it and eaten Chinese food
— Anthony Sanrocco (@sanrocc0) August 4, 2017
Here at Knights On Ice, we look forward to learning more about Pickard and what mask he ends up choosing. However, there may be a twinge of disappointment if he does not sneak in our logo. Just saying, Cal.
It is August. Lows in Las Vegas will not drop below 80 for the next 10 days, and we are still talking hockey. Get excited people, opening night is barely two months away.