Maine Nordiques coach Nick Skerlick doesn’t need to be reminded about his team’s power-play struggles.

“We’re at 4%; that is laughable. I’m so embarrassed,” Skerlick said. “I don’t even want to go to the grocery store and see a hockey fan and hear, ‘Coach, that power play stinks.’ I’m well aware.”

The Auburn-based Nordiques (6-3-1) rank last among 34 North American Hockey League teams with a success rate of 5.3% after going 1 for 3 in their latest game, a 6-2 win over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings on Tuesday.

While the puck isn’t going into the net, Skerlick points out that Maine is creating scoring chances on power plays. For example, in two games against the Maryland Black Bears on Oct. 3-4, Maine had 19 scoring chances and 31 shots on 16 power-play opportunities.

Skerlick has sought advice from United States Hockey League coaches and even NHL coaches. Winnipeg Jets assistant Davis Payne knows the Nordiques’ ownership and recently connected with Skerlick.

“He was kind enough to take 15 minutes,” Skerlick said. “We have two units, and one unit is playing that (Jets) power play … he runs their power play, which was dangerous last season.”

Winnipeg led the NHL with a 28.9% power-play percentage in 2024-25.

The Nordiques, who play at the Elmira Aviators on Friday and Saturday, have set a goal to score eight times in their next 30 power-play opportunities. They hope that after defenseman Luke Chappelle returns from an offseason injury, they can achieve a 20% success rate for the remainder of the season.

Chappelle scored four goals and had four assists on power plays in 2024-25.

“We do expect our power play to drastically improve with the return of Luke Chappelle, hopefully in December or January,” Skerlick said. “We’re not going to wait for him to return before we start making those adjustments.”

Home sweet home

The Lewiston Maineiacs are getting familiar with The Colisee in their debut season.

So far, the USPHL National Collegiate Development Conference team has played six games in Lewiston, two true road games, and three showcase games at the Hitmen Classic in Wayne, New Jersey.

The Maineiacs (5-5-1) will play 15 of their next 19 games at The Colisee before the holiday break (Dec. 21-Jan. 7).

“We got pretty lucky, coming in and just having home-ice advantage,” Maineiacs coach Caleb Labrie said. “We’re going to have about 35 home games at The Colisee. Sometimes we’re the away team in our own building. Still, it’s probably one of the easiest schedules to begin a transition year with an expansion team.”

The Maineiacs and Biddeford-based CT Chiefs North, another expansion team in the New England North Division, play at The Colisee three times in the next week. Lewiston is the home team on Friday, while the Chiefs will be the home team on Saturday and on Oct. 23.

Labrie said the Maineiacs agreed to help the Chiefs (6-5), who had planned to play in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, before moving to Biddeford in August.

“We worked out a deal, just with our ability to have a fan base that’s typically at our games,” Labrie said. “They were fine with playing (games) here because it’s a better atmosphere, and easier to pull more people into the building.”

Divisional rival Universal Quebec will be the home team at The Colisee against Lewiston on Oct. 31 and Nov. 21-22.

Lowry named Pioneers coach

Former high school coach Jack Lowry is back in Maine.

Lowry, who won back-to-back Class A state championships at Cheverus in 2005 and 2006 and also coached at Biddeford and Deering, is the head coach of the Presque Isle-based Northern Maine Pioneers, an expansion team in the NCDC New England North Division.

Lowry has coached junior hockey for the last 10 seasons, including stints with the Biddeford-based Maine Wild, Connecticut Knighthawks, Vermont Lumberjacks and Worcester Jr. Railers.

Lowry was set to work with the Bridgewater Jr. Bandits this season, but was hired in early October to coach the Pioneers (3-4).