On the eve of Invasion XII
Commentary of Eurolanche founder David Puchovsky.Tomorrow, Eurolanche embarks on what will almost unbelievably be its twelfth overseas trip. Year after year, I’m able to repeat the phrase that I never even dreamt of coming back there. For me personally, this will be my eleventh North American adventure. Even though the Fan Club exists since 2007 and we’ve been regularly visiting Denver since 2008, there’s no guarantee of the trips happening on a yearly basis. Quite the contrary. Year after year, some things have been getting more and more complicating, someone has been throwing obstacle after obstacle at us and would probably be happier if we would never return to Denver. One day, I think I’ll be able to share the most depressing and unbelievable experiences with others and not just keep them to myself…
The past few weeks, I’ve been dealing with health issues that have been putting my participation at Invasion XII in serious jeopardy, yet I managed to get back on my feet and I’m more than ready. In those difficult moments, I regained a lot of my energy and kept my spirits up thanks to ordinary people, ordinary fans from Colorado. It’s those fans who are helping us year after year. They don’t want anything in return and are more than happy for a little gift from Europe, a beer or dinner. They deserve a lot of credit and have our deepest gratitude.
This year’s Invasion will once again feature a group of twelve members, which further proves that there’s a lot of demand for Avalanche hockey. Half of the group will see Denver for the very first time. Some will return to familiar places, some will even visit them for the second year in row. I think that there’s no better proof of the Invasion project running so smoothly and always to the satisfaction of the trips’ participants.
Looking at this year’s schedule, I’m most excited for the outdoor game, cross-country skiing in Aspen, California, Mexico and our long road trip back to Denver. I’m certain that we’ll once again have a group of great people and that two and a half weeks from now, the Eurolanche Invasion XII will rank as the best, or at least the second best in the ranking of Invasion trips. I’ll be happy should you choose to follow our steps in the US and maybe even decide that it’ll be you European Avs fans will also see taking part in an Invasion a year from now.
David Puchovsky, Slovakia, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
10/02/2020 - 18:30
