Colorado Avalanche: 5 Biggest Frustrations from 2014-15 Season

Ineffectual Power Play

Come on,

, reach for that puck. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know about other Avalanche fans, but somewhere around February I started cringing every time the Colorado Avalanche drew a penalty and went on the power play.

I remember clearly a game in which they blew a 5-on-3 — there were so many that I can’t remember the exact game. However,the Avalanche went on to win the game in that case. I remember coach Roy commenting that the missed opportunity could have killed their momentum, but they powered through.

In later games, they did not power through. We all remember how the statistics started getting stupid — along the lines of 30 power plays and no goals. In the end, the Avalanche finished 29th in the NHL for the power play. A team with high octane offense — forwards like Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Tanguay and Gabriel Landeskog as well as D-men such as Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson pinching in — how could it struggle so on the power play?

The Avalanche looked downright ineffectual on the power play, like they had no idea what to do with a man advantage. Unless, of course, there were fewer than two minutes left and they’d pulled the goalie. Then the intensity showed up. Maybe that’s it — they just didn’t feel the intensity during regular power plays.