Eurolanche

Eurolanche Invasion X begins tomorrow

The tenth overseas trip of the first European and biggest fan club of the Colorado Avalanche begins tomorrow, on February 24, 2018, with the group flying from Prague for the very first time. A total of five Eurolanche members from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Finland respectively will travel to the US as part of the Eurolanche Invasion X. The main part of the program will be five Colorado Avalanche home games in the Pepsi Center and two away games in Chicago and Columbus. “The Eurolanche Invasion project is celebrating its tenth edition. When we went to Denver for the first time nine years ago, no one would’ve thought that we’d ever reach the number ten, nor that we would reach it as fast as we did. Invasion X will be truly unique, with a program unrivaled by any previous trip,” said Eurolanche Founder and President David Puchovsky. The Eurolanche Invasion X will finish on March 11, 2018. For the first time ever, its participants will arrive in Denver two days before their first Avalanche game.

Fan Club President David Puchovsky will take part in his ninth Eurolanche Invasion, the most among Eurolanche members. Michal Zdrazil from the Czech Republic will return to Denver for the second year in row for his second overall trip. He’ll be joined by his countryman Marek Korber, who’ll participate in his first Invasion, as will Ivan Riska from Slovakia. Juuso Uustalo will also make his Eurolanche Invasion debut despite visiting Denver individually in the past.

During the trip, the five participating Eurolanche members will attend Avalanche home games against the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes. They’ll also attend two road games against the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets between the second-to-last and last home game. A flight from Denver to Chicago will therefore also be part of the tenth Eurolanche Invasion. The group will spend two days in the Windy City, after which they’ll undertake a short trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. From there, the group will head to Columbus, Ohio. They’ll also make a quick visit of Cincinnati on the fifth and final day of the field trip before flying back to Denver in the evening. The Eurolanche Fan Club will return to Chicago for the second time, as participants of the Eurolanche Invasion VII saw the Avalanche win 2-0 there, with Semyon Varlamov earning a 54-save shutout in what was arguably his best game in the NHL. Chicago will become the second place outside Colorado, to which Eurolanche will return for the second time.

The Invasion X participants will hope for as many Avalanche wins as possible, as participants of the Eurolanche Invasion IX only saw loses – seven of them in total. Moreover, eight out of ten Invasion IX participants saw two more losses in Sweden, bringing their ‘losing streak’ up to nine games. Two of them will take part in Invasion X and will hope that the unlucky streak will come to a quick end, namely Michal Zdrazil, who hasn’t seen Colorado win in person as of yet.

The majority of the Eurolanche Invasion X program will take place in the State of Colorado. There are several new additions in the preliminary program – cross-country skiing in Aspen, a visit of the Colorado Eagles home arena, a visit of the Colorado Rapids stadium, horseback riding, a new hiking trail in the Rocky Mountains, a visit of the Garden of Gods, a trip to southern Colorado for a visit of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the oldest town in the state, a trip to the ZOO and premiere visits of Indiana and Ohio. The program will also include traditional activities from past Invasions, like souvenir shopping at Altitude Authentics in the Pepsi Center and other stores, a tour of the Pepsi Center, a ride with the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, a visit of Colorado Springs, Avalanche practices and meetings with players, a visit of the Red Rocks Amphitheater, games of other sports leagues and many other activities. In comparison to past Eurolanche Invasions, the program of Invasion X includes the most novelties and previously unvisited places. The final program will depend on the participants and their time, physique and finances.

The main source of information about the ongoing Invasion X will be the special Invasion.Eurolanche.com, with additional coverage available at Eurolanche.com, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and on the new Fan Club's account on Instagram. Invasion X will also be a great opportunity to distribute the last copies of the English version of the book about Eurolanche to players and employees of the Colorado Avalnche, as well as to friends and partners of the Fan Club.

Interesting facts about the Eurolanche Invasion project:

The Eurolanche Invasion I was organized at the turn of 2008 with the participation of three Fan Club members, who attended a total of six Avalanche home games; the Eurolanche Fan Club was founded in 2007.

The most Fan Club members took part in the Eurolanche Invasion VIII during the 2015-16 – 12 members in total; this Invasion was also the most diverse in terms of nationalities (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Switzerland).

Since the Eurolanche Invasion V (including), participants of the project always attend seven Colorado Avalanche games (they’ve been attending six during Invasions I-IV).

Eurolanche members first attended an Avalanche away game in Minnesota during the Eurolanche Invasion V.

Other attended away games included games in Chicago (Invasion VII), Anaheim and San Jose (both during Invasion IX) and will include games in Chicago and Columbus after Invasion X; from the attended away games, the Avs only won the game in Chicago.

Invasion I and Invasion VI, the longest Invasion trips, lasted for 17 days (from the day of arrival until the day of departure).

A statistical overview of the Eurolanche Invasion project:

• Number of attended games (including Invasion X): 63
• Avalanche record after 55 GP (Invasion I-IX): 32-20-3 (31-17-3 at home, 1-3 on the road)*
• *the record doesn’t include the Stadium Series Alumni Game
• Total number of Invasion participants: 58
• Total number of unique participants: 40
• Number of participants, who’ve returned to Denver at least once: 6
• Participants, who’ve returned to Denver at least once (the numbers in brackets indicate the number of Invasions they’ve participated in): David Puchovsky (9), Norbert Gruber (6), Matej Klucho (3), Rudolf Sery (3), Tomas Vnuk (2), Michal Zdrazil (2)
• Countries of origin of Invasion participants (the numbers in brackets indicate the number of participants from each country): Slovakia (29), Czech Republic (16), Austria (6), Germany (2), Finland (2), Romania (1), Switzerland (1), Hungary (1)
• All Avalanche opponents faced during ten Invasions: 4x Anaheim, 4x Arizona, Atlanta, 3x Calgary, 5x Columbus, 7x Chicago, 3x Dallas, 2x Detroit, 3x Edmonton, Florida, 4x Minnesota, 4x Nashville, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, 2x Ottawa, Pittsburgh, 3x Philadelphia, 5x San Jose, 2x St. Louis, Tampa Bay, 2x Vancouver, Washington, 2x Winnipeg
• Missing teams: Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Los Angeles, Montreal, New Jersey, Toronto
• All visited US states (excluding Colorado) during ten Invasions: Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
• Countries visited outside of the US: Canada, Mexico
• Other professional leagues attended: NFL, NBA, NLL (lacrosse)
• Special NHL events attended: Stadium Series 2016, Alumni Game 2016
• Attended Avalanche games outside of the US: the Avalanche vs. Ottawa Senators double-header in Sweden as part of the NHL Global Series and the Eurolanche Raid 2017

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