NHL referee Brad Watson has lived a charmed life, but one he’s ready to leave. The longtime Highlands Ranch resident from Regina, Saskatchewan, is saying goodbye to hockey’s premier stage Saturday when he works his final NHL game at the Pepsi Center.

Watson, 57, is retiring from a 22-year NHL career following the Avalanche hosts Chicago in a match with huge playoff implications for both teams. He proposed his final game in front of family and friends.

The Avs, who are riding a three-game winning streak and back in a playoff position after sweeping a two-game road trip at Minnesota and Dallas, will honor Watson during Saturday’s sold-out game.

“I’ve been in the playoffs every year I’ve been on team. And I’ve had some nice runs,” Watson said. “So you get for this time of year and your adrenaline gets going. You get pumped up. And all of a sudden this year I’m enjoy, ‘Yeah, I’m not doing that. ’ It’s just weird. You’re just doing the games, knowing you’re not going to work beyond a certain date. I’m never experienced that before. You’ve always competed to the end — you don’t always make the end — but I have an end-point right away. It’s almost like a slow death. ”

Watson, who will work his 1,393rd NHL game Saturday, has seen all the modern-day greats come and go since his first career game in 1996. He is first among active referees with 214 playoff games, including eight Stanley Cup Finals.

“You get to the stage of leaving the game, and it’s this close now, you realize how lucky, how privileged you’re to be on the ice with players such as (Mario) Lemieux and (Wayne) Gretzky, (Ray) Bourque, Joe Sakic, and noticed (Sidney) Crosby and (Alex) Ovechkin come in,” Watson said. “And now (Connor) McDavid. I’m fortunate I got three years . It’s just a cool experience to be on the ice with those guys and watch the game change so much. I came in in the 1990s along with the speed and the skill of the game now — it’s amazing.

“When you digest it all, it’s a privilege to be a part of that, and also have success in the playoffs and see the emotion of the players and fans — just being about watching teams win the Stanley Cup. ”

Watson has a novel-size memory of hockey moments, including one about former Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Watson, Babcock stirred the pot when there was nothing to stir.

“Babcock says to me as I had been skating by their bench, ‘Wats, there’s plenty of hooking and holding going on. ’ This remark caught me off-guard because there were less than seven minutes left and the Wings were winning 4-1 and we just had three penalty minutes all match,” Watson said. “So on the next faceoff (Red Wings all-star defenseman) Nick Lindstrom ever-so-lightly sets his stick on the opponent’s thigh and I signal a penalty and assess him a minor for hooking. There’s a timeout at the stoppage and I look across at the Wings’ bench and I visit Babcock’s hands in the air, wondering what was happening. I shout across the ice and point toward the Chicago bench and say, ‘Oh, you meant on them? ’ He proceeded to shout obscenities at me. It was rather funny. ”

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Footnotes. The Avalanche had an optional practice Friday.  Right winger Mikko Rantanen did not take part after leaving Thursday’s match with an injury to his waist, from being assessed against the bench boards at Dallas. Coach Jared Bednar did not know the magnitude of Rantanen’s injury. … Colorado has nine remaining games, including Sunday at Chicago to complete a home-and-home series against the Blackhawks.

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