Eurolanche

First trip to Denver and the hotline (2008/09)

If I had to describe the difference between the organization of the first Eurolanche Invasion and the following ones with one word, I’d choosechaos. Indeed, our first trip to Denver really resembled (un)organized chaos at times, which, to be honest, was sometimes almost necessary. Necessary in order for a newly-created project to become the best organized annual trip of European fans to the US to see NHL hockey.

Peter Budaj’s promise of getting us game tickets was a really nice gesture, but didn’t solve 99 percent of the remaining necessities. The year was 2008, nothing like ESTA (visa-free travel to the US, with visas being granted to any non-terrorist really) existed back then. Not only Slovaks, but also Czechs and almost every other nationals had to go to an in-person interview at the US embassy in their respective state before traveling there. We – two Martins (one from Slovakia and one from the Czech Republic) and I – were no exception.

I remember that day really well. I met with the Slovak Martin in Bratislava, where we already arranged our interviews at the US embassy. We both wore suits to make the best impression possible. In reality, we had no clue what would happen and what we should expect. We were worried that we wouldn’t make it through the interview. Either do to our mediocre English, or because the Americans would be worried that we wanted to illegally immigrate to the US. I was prepared for any possible question from the immigration officer. To support my answers with any evidence, I brought an endless amount of papers with me, ranging from my bank account balance, information about the Fan Club, to the invitation letter from Jody, to whom we’ll get later.

Following a thorough security check at the entrance, where they took our cellphones, we made it to the spacy waiting hall of the US embassy. Aside from a number of fellow tourists, one person in particular caught our attention. It was Lubomir Visnovsky, a former Slovak defenseman who played for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and the New York Islanders. Not even professional hockey players were exempt from visa duty and had to get them in person. Lubo played for Edmonton at the time and although he played in Canada, he still needed US visa. Based on his stats from that season, he apparently passed his interview without problems.

In case you’re interested in the unabridged, colored PDF version of the book, contact us at eurolanche@eurolanche.com. The physical copies are all sold out.

 

The wait at the embassy was excruciating. I was more nervous than before any exam in school. One bad answer, one bad decision and my dream of seeing the Colorado Avalanche would be over. It was all up to the decision of the officer. We viewed the US as an impregnable fortress and being granted visa was quite an honor. Everything was on the line. The future of Eurolanche depended on one decision.

Much to my surprise, the interview was conducted in broken Slovak of the American officer behind the glass. She asked me basic questions about travelling, I showed her all my documents, said a word or two about Eurolanche and it was done. I was relieved. I felt like I just passed an extremely hard college exam. In this very moment, I could finally say that I would get to see the Avalanche play in person for the first time in a couple of weeks. 2008 was a year of fulfilled dreams for me – graduating high school, getting into college, going to see KISS and Bon Jovi, two of my favorite bands, getting my driver’s license and attending two NHL games in Prague as a journalist. Now, nothing stood in the way of fulfilling yet another big dream.

After being granted visa for 10 years for 3000 Slovak crowns (which today equals about 100 euro; currently, ESTA for two years is granted for a fee of 14 dollars), Martin and I went to an internet café. There we contacted the Czech Martin, who was as successful as we were at the embassy in Prague. We bought plane tickets for the very first Eurolanche Invasion from the very same public PC shortly afterwards. Suddenly, everything went fast. We chose the cheapest tariff. Compared to the plane tickets from future Invasions, these were hands-down the most expensive ones and cost more than 700 euro. This is where I would like to thank my family, which gave me most of the finances for my first Invasion and without the support of which I couldn’t have gone overseas, because I couldn’t cover the costs by myself at the time.

We were promised accommodation by Jody, who lived in Littleton, a suburb near Denver. I knew Jody from the official Avalanche message board on their website. We chatted about hockey, she sent me a lot of souvenirs and when it was time for our first trip to Colorado, she didn’t hesitate to invite both Martins and me to her home. She saved us a lot of trouble.

But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. Despite getting our visas, we still had three months of waiting ahead of us. It felt like eternity. We didn’t think all too much about our schedule, or about the organization of the trip. After all, it was going to be our first time and we wanted to see everything! During those months of waiting, I thought about the day of our departure literally every day. I just couldn’t wait. Invasion I was slowly finding its way into my dreams. On my way to school, at school, and on the way home from school I couldn’t think about anything else. I still didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t believe that my life was writing the story of a fan, who made it from his childhood bedroom all the way to the locker room of the Colorado Avalanche. I didn’t even know it back then. There were a lot of surprises waiting for us.

On the first day of Christmas in 2008, the three of us, who had an endless journey across the ocean ahead of themselves, met at my place in Bratislava. Both Martins and I only slept briefly. We couldn’t wait for the trip to begin. At the same time, we couldn’t even dream of the things that were waiting for us during the next 17 days.

We arrived at the airport in Vienna early in the morning in order to catch the morning flight to Frankfurt. In Vienna, I wrote down the following sentence into the official Invasion I diary: “We learned interesting news that we’ll have to get our luggage in Houston, where we only have an hour to board our next flight. It will be a really close call.” Truth is that when I was buying the tickets in Slovakia,I asked the saleswoman if an hour would be enough to change flights,to which she kept replying yes.Although I ultimately chose to trust her advice, I still had my doubts.

The first Eurolanche Invasion flight meant the discovery of something entirely new for me. Although I flew more than 30 times already, all those flights were holiday charters. That morning in Vienna, I first experienced the defrosting procedure necessary for the save departure of our plane. In Frankfurt, I was astounded by the size of the local airport, which is the most frequented airport in Europe. We had to move between two terminals via train. Up until then, I didn’t know that something like that even existed. Changing flights took an entire hour. We never stopped moving during that hour.

We continued our journey from Frankfurt to Houston. We boarded the second biggest plane in the world, the Boeing 747-400, which was quite the experience for us. Martin from the Slovak town of Martin flew for the very first time and he did really well. He wasn’t the first, nor the last Eurolanche member to get to fly for his very first time thanks to a Eurolanche Invasion. You can read about the experience of one of those in the Member stories section later in the book.

The description of our jumbo sounds marvelous, but the insides of the plane were horrible. There was barely any room between the seats, we were seated in the middle row and had to endure the endless cries of babies throughout the entire flight. In a certain phase of the flight, I slept with my head on the seat and with the rest of my body crammed underneath the seat of the person sitting in front of me. One of the stewardesses asked me if I was feeling well. I couldn’t sleep because all the adrenaline, all the nervousness and my fear of flying kept me awake.

I’ve been afraid of flying for years. It was due to a flight from Turkey in 2000 when I was 10 years old. We were flying from Turkey back home to Slovakia, when suddenly, we had to return back after an hour. The plane had a technical issue, several passengers couldn’t breathe properly and panic spread in the special waiting room like wildfire. After six hours of waiting, we had a choice: we could either fly with the newly-repaired plane, or we could buy tickets for a different flight on another day. My family and I didn’t have a choice because we didn’t have enough money. We re-boarded the plane among the last ones who chose to fly again on that day. Not only the children, but the adults as well had tears in their eyes. No one was sure if the Turks really fixed the plane in such a short amount of time. If there wouldn’t be any problems with oxygen in the plane, if we wouldn’t have to land with such speed as we did during the emergency landing before. There was an aura of calmness on the plane. The crew never left their rooms. Everyone was anxious what would happen. Luckily, we made it safely back to Bratislava, where we already had a TV crew from the Slovak TV channel Markiza waiting for us. Since then, I feared flying, but I didn’t shy away from it. It took the first four Invasions until I finally got over my fear completely. Now, I’m not even disturbed by bigger turbulences and consider flying as the safest way to travel. If a catastrophe were to happen, it would be quick and painless.

Although we arrived in Houston on time, the fact that we were seated in the back of the plane significantly slowed us down. We were surprised by the long lines in front of the immigration window. Every passenger has to go through this, even Americans who flew back from abroad. It’s a mere formality nowadays, where you only have to answer two or three questions about your stay and you can move on. It didn’t look good for us. We had less than an hour to catch our flight to Denver. Full of hope, I asked the nearby policewoman if she could help us. She couldn’t. “ You won’t make it either way,” she said matter-of-factly. This is how my first interaction with a US citizen in the USA went.

She wasn’t mistaken.The problem-free interview with the immigration officer, who told me that soccer in Europe is way more popular than hockey, ended at the exact same moment our flight to Denver took off from Houston. First, we had to take our heavy luggage from the nearby conveyor belt. It’s standard, even when you’re just changing flights, because if they wouldn’t let you through the immigration control, you can immediately take your luggage and fly back to Europe. With our luggage back in our possession, we went to the Lufthansa desk to enquire about our options. They immediately sent us to the second terminal, telling us that they could help us there. To get there, we had to overcome one last obstacle. There was only one elevator leading up to the airport shuttle. We waited for what felt like eternity. When the doors finally opened, the elevator was full with passengers from other floors. Our chance finally came after even more long minutes of waiting. Suddenly, we realized that we won’t fit into the elevator with our luggage carts. The people standing behind us were already pushing in. We were forced to leave the carts there despite the loud yelling of the nearby airport employee, which was interrupted by the elevator doors at last sealing shut.

After taking the shuttle to the second terminal, we finally arrived at the desk where they were supposed to help us. We never got the help that we were promised back at the other terminal. All flights to Denver were already sold out and full, with the only remaining option being to fly on the next day. I’ve never been good in math, but I quickly put it all together. Flying tomorrow would mean that we would miss the first Eurolanche Invasion game ever. The opponent? The Detroit Red Wings.

The situation seemed hopeless. We didn’t know what we should do. We were stuck somewhere in Houston and thinking out loud. One of the guys from the group inexplicably called his father, who then alarmed his mother. Suddenly, everyone wanted to call us and find out what the problem was. Houston, we have a problem!

I couldn’t leave it like that. I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, to give up my first Colorado Avalanche game.That’s why I returned to the desk. It never hurts to ask again. The extremely slow employee searched for new options for us for about half an hour. I was slowly losing my patience and kept cursing in Slovak. At the time, I was on my feet for more than 24 hours. The late nights I spent awake watching Avalanche games taught me to ignore the urge for sleep, but the stress and endless travel were pushing me to my limits. That’s why the sentence “We have tickets for a flight departing in two hours” made me the happiest person on Earth. Triumphantly, I returned to the two Martins to tell them the good news.

Before our departure, we faced yet another, final obstacle. My antics at the desk didn’t go unnoticed by the airport security staff. After we went to get our new tickets and handed our luggage over, they took us aside and taped three of us up almost in the middle of the hall. We couldn’t move anywhere, not even a little. Following the arrival of reinforcements, they made us go through an extremely thorough security check. They checked everything in our hand luggage. For the first time ever, I had to take off my shoes and put them on the conveyor belt for checking. We passed the check without any further complications. When the passengers, who knew us from the previous desk saw us arrive at the gate, they gave us a round of applause. They applauded, because they saw that we really managed to get on our desired flight. The flight, during which I was so drained of energy that I even forgot about my fear of flying. At least for a little bit.

Jody was waiting for us at the airport, since I already informed her about the changes of our travel plans. It was a heartfelt welcome. I finally got the meet the person, who was an integral part of the very first Invasion. From the airport, we went to her home in Littleton, 30 minutes away from the Pepsi Center.

Our first journey from Slovakia to Denver took more than 48 hours.Two days spent on our feet and without any sleep. Luckily, none from the future eight Invasions even came close to this number. After all three of us flooded Jody with gifts from our homelands (and after we granted her honorary membership as the second person after P. Budaj and the last one to date), we finally went to bed. It was snowing outside and I couldn’t believe that I was really in Denver. Up until then, I only knew it as a place at the other end of the world. I examined it on printed maps, or on the internet in more detail. It was beautiful and falling asleep there was like a fairytale.

While talking about the Eurolanche Invasion I, I cannot keep myself from using the word first. The first big packing, the first long flight, the first missed flight, the first night in Denver... and last but not least, my first Colorado Avalanche game. I don’t have to go into details of how intense it all felt that day. We arrived at the arena two hours before the game. We had our game tickets and the special tickets to meet the players provided by Peter Budaj – just like he promised back in summer in Banska Bystrica. All of a sudden, one of my Avalanche message board acquaintances, ironically a Detroit fan, saw us and that is how the first group photo with the locals was taken. We took countless more during the following years. Eurolanche wasn’t later known only to a handful of people from the online community.The vast majority of fans,sometimes even the entire Pepsi Center, later knew about its brand. The attending fans began to stop by us and take pictures with us.

Since we had special tickets, we could enter the arena half an hour before fans with a regular ticket. We had more than enough time to see the Pepsi Center from all angles. Our first and very confused steps mistakenly led us to the inner hallways of the arena, where the locker rooms and other very safely guarded places are. Right away, we saw then-head coach Tony Granato make his way towards us. I was so nervous that I didn’t know what or if I should tell him something. I only managed to say “Good night”! So I actually sent him to bed... We chose to go back to the public part of the arena.We saw the entirely empty sectors, met Altitude TV host Kyle Keefe for the first time and took pictures with him, while also agreeing on an interview during the third period, and went back and forth through the entire arena. It was like we still couldn’t believe that we were really THERE. At the very place we only knew from TV broadcasts and the internet up until then.

The feeling remained the same when the Avs players hit the ice for the pre-game warm up. We were standing right behind Budaj’s goal so that every player could see us with our Czech and Slovak flags and banners with cheerful slogans. Budaj then gestured to greet us and we were all beside ourselves. I’ll help myself with the memory of one of the Invasion IX participants. He told me that back when he was a kid, he couldn’t believe that the players he player with on his PlayStation existed in the real world. I felt quite similar on December 27, 2008, when I saw the entire Avalanche roster in front of me. They really existed. They weren’t just a product of television or a video game fantasy. They were there, real players, real human beings.

It goes without saying that we really enjoyed the game. Who would’ve said that the first game we’d attend would be against the hated Red Wings of all teams? We pushed our boys forward. We shouted and cheered. On the exact day I was at Filip’s in Croatia a year ago, Colorado lost 2-4 to Detroit at home. This just couldn’t happen again. The first Eurolanche Invasion goal was scored after a seemingly harmless shot by the late Ruslan Salei. Colorado later went up 3-0, but conceded three unanswered goals and the game had to be decided by a shootout, in which Budaj excelled and the home team won. What else could we had possibly wished for? Our friend Jody, who was sitting in another sector, had a clear view of us and captured the moment we celebrated Budaj’s game-winning save. She immortalized my sheer joy of seeing Colorado win in person.

The first interview for the local Altitude TV channel, which broadcasts all Colorado Avalanche games (except those broadcasted nationally, which are presently broadcasted by NBC Sports) to three million households in 10 US states, is a separate chapter of our first game. Kyle Keefe came to us during the third period. It was one of the tensest moments of my life. My right leg kept twitching uncontrollably. I couldn’t focus. I was going to give my first interview in English. And if that wasn’t enough, it was all supposed to be broadcasted live during the game. It felt horrible. My English was far from being good. I had no choice, because I had to promote Eurolanche at all costs. I had to grab every opportunity. First, I somehow told Keefe how we got tickets from Peter Budaj, continued with a short introduction of Eurolanche (We supposedly had 50 members from 12 countries, can you believe it?) and ended the interview by telling him that we’re in Denver for six games. During the interview, the two Martins and I held banners, one of which said Great save by Budaj, and the other one being a slight variation of a well-known commercial ending with the sentence that a win against Detroit is priceless.

The rest of our stay in Colorado during Invasion I was very different from the following years. We spent most of our time at Jody’s house, because she had to go to work and we didn’t dare to use public transport. Of course, we couldn’t miss Avalanche practices, as well as delicious lunch with Marek Svatos and Peter Budaj. We also brought several gifts for Peter as a thank you for his enormous help with game tickets. He couldn’t hide his surprise, which was also caught by Jody and her camera. Marek even took as directly to the team’s locker room after one game. I still remember Ruslan Salei lying on the massage table. I can’t begin to describe how sad it is that both of them had such a tragic fate.

Regarding our trips in the Denver area, we visited downtown Denver, as well as the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, to where we returned during each of the following Invasions. The Red Rocks Amphitheatre was built with rocks typical for the American Midwest.The venue hosted a number of legendary music acts, including the Beatles. We also celebrated New Year 2009 overseas – my first New Year away from Slovakia and my family. At 4 p.m. local time, we played the Slovak and Czech anthems, had a toast with Jody and celebrated the European New Year. Eight hours later, we celebrated the American one in a rather calm manner. We found out that Americans don’t celebrate New Year’s as passionately as Slovaks or Czechs. Jody’s then-boyfriend even went to bed before midnight, because he had to go to work in the morning. The highlight of the TV program at midnight was a daredevil on a motorcycle jumping, or rather flying, over a big obstacle. “ You’ll find out if he survives after midnight,” announced the TV host. This and other things introduced us to the different culture in North America. It went hand in hand with adapting to the weather in Denver. I recall that we took a photo in front of Jody’s house on New Year’s Eve wearing only short-sleeved shirts and shorts. It wasn’t all too warm, but it didn’t feel like December either.

I’ll also never forget all the post-game meetings with players. Each player was kind enough to stop by us. Paul Stastny surprised us with his decent Slovak. Ian Laperriere and Ben Guite were fantastic and acted like we were old friends. We kept in touch with Ian even after he left Denver. Ryan Smyth, Milan Hejduk and Adam Foote were already legends, but had no problems with giving us several autographs and taking photos with us. A certain Cody McLeod was playing his second season in the NHL and it was already clear back then that he had great character. The only one missing was Joe Sakic. He had back problems during the 2008-09 season. The situation got even worse after an incident with a snow blower, during which Sakic injured his fingers. He last played against the Coyotes on November 28, 2008, playing only one shift lasting exactly 28 seconds. We had no idea that it would be the last game of his career. Anyhow, neither us, nor the participants of the Eurolanche Invasion II met him when they went to Denver a month after us. We took more than autographs and group photos from our first meetings with the players – we recorded video greetings for all Eurolanche members. We managed to get announcer Kyle Keefe, Adam Foote, John-Michael Liles, Brett Clark, Kyle Cumiskey, Daniel Tjarnqvist, Jordan Leopold, Scott Hannan, Andrew Raycroft, Brian Willsie, Cody McLeod, David Jones, Chris Stewart twice,Iana Laperriere,Ben Guite,TJ Hensick,Milan Hejduk, Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stastny and Peter Budaj in front of our camera.

An important part of the first Invasion was a meeting with a representative of the Colorado Avalanche and KSE (Kroenke Sports & Entertainment – an umbrella company controlling all sports teams owned by the Kroenke family), to whom I presented the ideas and goals of Eurolanche for the first time. Based on this meeting, we received support from the team for a number of Eurolanche Invasions during the following seasons. It probably wasn’t very apolitical that I began my speech by quoting the speech of then-US President Barack Obama.

The Eurolanche Invasion I was an amazing experience. For me, it was I trip that I’ll remember for the rest of my life and the memories of which I’ll relive more intensively than the memories from any other Invasion I later participated in. Thanks to this experience, I know what Eurolanche members, who are going to Denver with us for the first time, feel like. I know exactly how you feel and I’m happy that you have such an opportunity.

After 17 days, we finally made it to our last day overseas. After the last whistle, after the last meetings with Avalanche players, it was time to pack our bags. In the official Invasion I diary, I found a part perfectly describing the entire process: “I’m currently sitting on my bed and thinking about what to do first. I have no idea how I’ll pack all the souvenirs. There’s way too many of them.” I really didn’t manage to pack them all. I wanted to take magazines, books, a phone book (!), various papers, literally everything related and unrelated to the Colorado Avalanche and the state of Colorado with me. At the airport, I found out that my luggage is three kilos over the allowed weight limit. I didn’t know what to do, so I paid the 150-dollar fine. It was the first and final time this has ever happened to me. Since then, my luggage has been over the limit during each following Invasions, but I discovered tricks how to get around it, which I describe in another part of this book. Back then, in January 2009, I was glad that we made it through two and a half weeks in Denver, stayed healthy and saw the Avalanche win five games in person. The Eurolanche Invasion I certainly wasn’t as grand as the following trips, but it laid the foundation without which we would have never moved forward. It was magical. We felt like aliens on a different planet. We fulfilled our biggest dreams. Why shouldn’t Eurolanche help other fans achieve their dreams?

Eurolanche organized two more events in spring 2009. The smaller one was the first member meeting near Martin, Slovakia. Five of us spent three days together, talking not only about the possible future of the Fan Club, but about Colorado in general. I gave the participants the first autographs and souvenirs as part of a raffle. We played PlayStation, even NHL Monopoly, which I bought during my first trip in Colorado. We then watched the Avalanche play at night. On another evening, we had a puck-shaped cake with the Avalanche logo on top. I had to leave the meeting for a few hours because of my referee test in Puchov, which I further describe in one of the Commercial breaks. I remember that Colorado played one game shortly prior to the meeting.There was nothing keeping me, a student, from watching the game, which is why I slept for about 12 hours in total in four days. I had a positive feeling about our first organized meeting, which made me want to push the Fan Club even further.

The main event of the second half of the 2008-09 season was the Eurolanche Invasion II. It was the first and last time we organized two Invasions during the same season. It will surely never happen again. Despite Invasion II having only three official participants, I was unofficially the fourth one, because on several occasions, I had to manage organizational issues in the middle of the European night and Coloradoan day via phone. Prior to the first game, I picked up my phone at night, only to be greeted by the sentence “Our tickets aren’t at the reception”. All it took was one phone call and they were there in a matter of minutes. This and other things were the main reason why I decided that my immediate presence during each Invasion will be beneficial for all involved parties.

Despite Invasion II being the shortest of all Invasions (it lasted eight days and three games), it was an unforgettable experience for the next pioneers from Eurolanche, just like Invasion I was for me and both Martins.Norbert,one of its participants,handled his interview for Altitude TV like a pro. I remember watching that game and feeling nervous until they showed our group. While saying Czech Republic, Kyle Keefe froze a little and forgot the names of the other two Invasion participants, but it didn’t matter. Norbert shortly described his feelings, praised Eurolanche’s organization of the event and said something in German at the end. He had our first, big flag wrapped around him during the entire interview. The flag participating in the second Invasion, the only one I wasn’t part of during the first ten years of the Fan Club’s existence, makes it the only object which was present at each of our overseas trip.

Now, we’ll leave it to Matej from Liberec, Czech Republic, who was part of the second Invasion, to describe his overseas experience.

“January 29, 2009. This is the day the probably biggest adventure of my life began. At the time, I was a 20-year-old high school student in Liberec with a great passion for the NHL, mostly thanks to the Colorado Avalanche. I regularly followed the coverage of my favorite team. Later, I began to write for Eurolanche.com. Thanks to David Puchovsky, its enthusiastic President and a great person, I (and countless others) had the opportunity to fulfill the dream of a lifetime.

The Invasion engulfed me and my friend Martin right from the beginning. We enjoyed the way to the airport, our flight, and the little things, like buying souvenirs at the airport hall, or the taxi ride to the hotel. Thanks to our flawless journey, we managed to catch the Altitude TV broadcast of the Avalanche game in Toronto on our first day in Denver. We still didn’t ‘experience anything’, but we were already looking forward to the next days.

The following day, we met the third member of our group – Norbert from Austria – in downtown Denver. Despite it being January, we walked through the city only having to wear sweaters, sometimes even T-shirts. It was rather surprising how sunny Denver is and how warm it can get 1,600 meters above sea level. Following our stroll through downtown Denver, we went to the place where fans experience the most – to the Pepsi Center, including the Altitude Authentics store.

There, we were like little kids in a toy shop and would’ve bought half the store if it was possible. In the end, we managed to keep our cool, buying several souvenirs, as well as tickets for the evening Nuggets game – Denver’s NBA team. Thus, our first experience in the Pepsi Center was a basketball game, but we still enjoyed it as much as possible. On the first day, we were pleasantly surprised by the demeanor of the locals, who were incredibly nice to us. After we told them we were from Europe, it almost felt like they worshiped us.

On the next day, the moment Colorado fans so eagerly wait for – the Avs game – finally came! Colorado hosted Anaheim and it was an unreal experience. Great hockey, packed stands and an electrifying atmosphere. After the game, we met the players, which we still remember with a smile on our face while going through our group photos. It’s apparent that NHL players are true professionals, they almost always agreed to give autographs. In the evening, we went to a lacrosse game, which was also a big show.

One could say that we did everything we could in two days, but the program of each Invasion is extremely busy during each single day. We went to our first team practice, saw new places in the city and went to another basketball game. Each following day assured us of two things – that Denver is a magnificent city with amazing weather and that people in the US are always friendly and positive.

During the rest of the Invasion, we went to two more Avalanche games, following which we met the majority of players yet again. After the game against Dallas, we had the opportunity to go into Colorado’s locker room thanks to Peter Budaj.

An Invasion is a dream come true for a Colorado Avalanche fan. The city and the weather are both remarkable, as is the hospitality of the locals. That’s why it’s no surprise that I returned to Denver two more times following my first Invasion in 2009. Thanks to its regular activities, Eurolanche became even more popular in the Mile High City and we experienced even more during the next Invasions.”

Thanks to Invasion I and II, Eurolanche made its premiere appearance in bigger media, if I don’t count a simple mention in the ProHockey magazine in the interview with Budaj.The biggest Slovak sports websites, as well as one news website – namely HOKEJ.sk, HOKEJPORTAL.net and SME.sk – wrote about the first two Invasions. Matej’s story even made it to a regional Czech newspaper.

The season of the Colorado Avalanche: Rock bottom. Colorado was lackluster during free agency, at the draft, when trading with other teams and, ultimately, during the season. The Avalanche finished last in the Western Conference and as the third-worst team in the NHL. Peter Budaj was the team’s starting goalie. Milan Hejduk was the team’s top scorer for the last time in his career. Joe Sakic retired at the end of the season and the entire organization underwent significant changes.

Commercial break: Stanley Cup prayers

My Avalanche fandom reached a new, bizarre dimension in 2006. After the playoffs began, I started to go to church for the first time in several years. I attended two services with my then-classmate. During the entire service, I held two printed pictures – one of Joe Sakic and one of the Stanley Cup. It may sound crazy, but I honestly asked God to help Colorado win the Stanley Cup that year. I wanted to achieve a state of mind, in which I would truly believe that the Avalanche would win and that it would really happen. It didn’t. The Avs managed to win their opening round series against Dallas (4-1), but went winless in the next round against Anaheim. I’d rather not write more about this.