Eurolanche

Eurolanche Invasion XI begins tomorrow

The Eurolanche Fan Club organizes the eleventh trip of its members to the USA known under the name Eurolanche Invasion XI. In total, 12 members from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, the United Kingdom, Poland and Croatia will participate at the trip, which begins on February 12 and ends on February 28. The overall number of participants ties the for most participants at a single trip in Invasion history and the number of different nationalities sets a new record. The eight visited games will break the record in this category as well, as the members will support the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center against the Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. For the third straight time and for the fourth time in project history the trip includes a road trip, this year to the stadiums of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators.

The Eurolanche Fan Club will visit games against Toronto and Vegas for the first time. It will be the Fan Club’s eighth game against Chicago and the third and the fourth games against the rest of the opponents respectively.

Slovakia will be represented by Eurolanche founder David Puchovsky, for whom it will be a record-setting tenth trip, and by “rookies” Peter Junek, Tomas Oliva, Marcel Sahul, Veronika Sahulova, Peter Kozusko and Pavol Skyba. Michal Serafinovic from the Czech Republic will travel with Eurolanche for the first time, too. Norbert Gruber from Austria will take part at his seventh Invasion. Kieran Lavelle from the United Kingdom, Lukasz Tkocz from Poland and Maja Andreuzzi from Croatia will participate at the project for the first time. Interestingly enough, Pavol Skyba currently lives in the United Kingdom and Lukasz Tkocz in the US. Last but not least, this will be the first Invasion, where Eurolanche members originating from the United Kingdom, Croatia and Poland will be part of the trip.

The busy schedule of one of the longest Eurolanche Invasions will begin with the first Avalanche game at the Pepsi Center for the first four members, followed by a two-and-a-half-day trip to Las Vegas, where the Fan Club last ventured three years ago. After returning to Denver, the entire Invasion XI crew will finally get together. Later, they will spend four days on a road trip in Chicago and Nashville, going to two Avs away games. Eurolanche will be back in Chicago for the third time overall and second straight time, while making their first trip to Nashville.

The Invasion XI schedule will also include the Fan Club’s first AHL game, as the fans will get to cheer the team’s minor-league affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The fans will also visit downtown Denver, Blackhawk and Central City, Georgetown, the ghost town of St. Elmo, the Colorado Gator Farm, Fraser (snowtubing), downtown Chicago and Nashville, the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, the Red Rocks Amphitheater, Rocky Mountain National Wildlife Refuge and the Coors Brewery. The schedule will include two scenic drives, one in the Rocky Mountains and the other one – for the first time – north of Denver, mainly on the Poudre Canyon Rd.

In total, Invasion XI participants will visit six different US States, which is another record of the project. The list includes Colorado, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. The group will fly to and from Las Vegas and Chicago, and will drive back and forth between Chicago and Nashville.  

Like each previous trip, the Invasion XI schedule will include meetings with Avalanche players and local fans, as well as visits to Avs practices.

Eurolanche organized ten Eurolanche Invasions between 2008 and 2018, with an overall participants number of 59 Fan Club members from 8 different European countries. During this span, they’ve visited 10 US States, as well as Canada and Mexico; they’ve flown 200 000+ kilometers and spent 149 days in the US. Furthermore, they’ve attended 63 Avalanche games, six of them on the road. The overall record of all attended games is 36-21-5 (the alumni game between Colorado and Detroit isn’t included). Invasion.Eurolanche.com is the main hub for all information regarding the trip (including an infographic of the project).  

Eurolanche was founded in 2007 and is the longest-lasting fan project in the entire NHL. With almost 900 registered members from all continents and with regularly organized events, the Fan Club is the biggest fan project in the league as well. Eurolanche membership is free of charge for all Avalanche fans from around the world. Eurolanche also organizes member meetings and meetings with Avalanche players. Moreover, the Fan Club organized the biggest group event in Sweden to visit two Avs games in Europe (as part of the NHL’s Global Series) and published an own book in two languages.

Basic information about the Eurolanche Invasion project, as well as information about the previous ten trips are available at Invasion.Eurolanche.com. If you’re considering taking part in a future Invasion and have any questions, please send them to us via eurolanche@eurolanche.com. Registration will be made available at a later date and every Fan Club member, who provided his email address in the signup form, will be notified via the provided email address.

Related Stories

Where and how to follow Invasion XI

Where can you meet Eurolanche in the US?

Eurolanche Invasion XI live from Pepsi Center