Colorado Avalanche Conclude Season by Beating Blackhawks

The Colorado Avalanche concluded their 2014-15 season at the Pepsi Center hosting the Chicago Blackhawks.

Scratch that, the Colorado Avalanche concluded their 2014-15 season at the Pepsi Center beating the Chicago Blackhawks.

Despite the sadness of the meaning in the game — we have known since last weekend that the Avalanche had been eliminated from playoff contention — the atmosphere was festive. It was a little charged as the Pepsi Center continued to bleed Blackhawk red, but Avalanche fans were in good spirits.

Player Warm Ups

Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene warms up with teammates, April 11, 2015.
Photo credit: Nadia Archuleta

A lot of fans mill around buying beer and visiting the team store, while many season ticket holders haven’t even arrived yet, when the players warm up on the ice. I don’t understand that. Since I’ve been going to hockey games (I’m not naming any years), I’ve made a point of getting there early enough to watch the players skate around. I like the relaxed nature of the warm ups while the players are in full gear.

The Avalanche players came out looking relaxed. There were quite a few fans clustered around the glass, many of them trying to get players to give them pucks.

One of the most fun players to watch during warm ups is Matt Duchene. He likes to hone his puck handling skills during warm ups. This Instagram isn’t from the final warm up, but it’s indicative of his warm up habits.

Chicago Fans

Colorado is a destination state. All those people who have been blending in during their daily lives, show their true colors when arriving at Pepsi Center. It can get very frustrating for us Avalanche fans to see such a high percentage of opponent fans in the crowd. Never is that more true than when the Chicago Blackhawks come to town. Like I’ve said, the Pepsi Center appears to be bleeding. This game, I was also very disappointed to find a local restaurant that prefers to cater to Chicago Blackhawks fans, Jimmy’s on Blake Street:

A local Denver eatery shows its true colors — literally.

No joke, they made no bones about “allowing” Avalanche fans but preferring a different clientele:

Guess we know where not to go!

In any case, in the first minutes of the game, Avalanche fans were screaming our heads off. Then, as the Blackhawks took possession of the puck, I heard this deep, almost gladitorial rumble: “Go Hawks!” I’ve been to Blackhawks games before, but this was the first time I’d heard such a primordial chant.

Well, we Avs fans took inspiration from that evil chant. We continued screaming our usual, “Let’s go Avalanche, let’s go!” However, the next time that deep rumble came, we started yelling “Go Avs!” By the second period, “Avs” was drowning out “Hawks.” First victory of the night!

Avalanche Game Summary

The headline of this section should be “The Colorado Avalanche scored two power play goals!”

The Colorado Avalanche struggled with their power play all season. No one can figure out why — you’d think with the shooters they have on that team would make them premium power players.

Well, tonight they were. The referees didn’t call the game very closely, but the Avs did get a power play in the second period when Chicago skater Bryan Bickell hooked John Mitchell.

Avs fans have had anxiety about what happens when the Avalanche go on the power play. Well, before we even had a chance to fret — or Bickell had a chance to get comfortable in the penalty box — veteran Jarome Iginla scored a power play goal.

By the way, he scored the second power play goal. It was a pretty simple goal, just the game winner with just seconds left on the game clock. No big deal.

No, really, the Avalanche finished their season with a power play goal that turned out to be the game-winner in a one-goal game. Take that, 2014-15 season.

Colorado Avalanche players salute fans:

Jerseys Off Their Backs

At the conclusion of the final game of the season, the Colorado Avalanche players culminate the festivities by giving selected fans their game-worn jerseys.

How can you be sure they’re game-worn? (Besides the sweat, that is.) The players skate over to the lucky fans and strip the jersey off before signing the back and giving it to them.

All the players participate, including the injured ones. I remember that from last year, but I didn’t remember it until too late this year. In other words, when defenseman Erik Johnson’s name was called, it caught me wholly by surprise. As such, I didn’t get video of it.

I did get video of center Matt Duchene giving away his jersey:

I also got video of the captain, Gabriel Landeskog, giving away his jersey. However, the funny part about that exchange was that the lucky fan looked just like Landy, and that’s better indicated in this picture:

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog gives his jersey to a fan during Jersey Off Our Back, April 11, 2015.