Eurolanche

Member story: Martin from Slovakia

Martin still remembers his first experience with the NHL during elementary school sometime around 1995, when all the guys collected NHL trading cards. He somehow ended up having the most from the Quebec Nordiques, so they became his favorite team. He later switched to the Colorado Avalanche. At the time, it was very popular to write a letter to the "far" United States, as they would send you several souvenirs or photographs. 

Since there was no internet in Slovakia during that time, he gained all information from monthly magazines and teletext. "After all those years, I still remember the teletext page 261 was for scores, 262 for standings, and 263 for stats. I also remember the tension while page 261 was loading to know whether Colorado won or not, especially in the playoffs, I was always so nervous,” Martin remembers. 

Martin, 29, works for an airline as a flight attendant. "I often stay at hotels with poor internet connection, so it’s hard for me to watch games. But I follow the scores online every day,” explained Martin. Unfortunately, his airline does not offer any flights to the US or Canada. Otherwise, he could easily attend NHL games. That is why he also decided to join the Eurolanche Invasion VIII in 2016 – to finally see the Avs live. Not only did he attend regular season games at the Pepsi Center, but he also attended the Stadium Series at Coors Field, which included the Alumni game with the likes of Roy, Sakic, Forsberg and other players he adored as a kid. "It was a very special thing for me. It was like a flashback back to my childhood when all this ‘American stuff’ was so far away from us. And then, I was there, watching them playing, just a couple of meters from me. Unbelievable experience,” said Martin. 

Martin also traveled to Toronto to see all the best hockey players in the world playing for the World Cup. He attended five games, at least one from each team in order to have a chance to see all the players. And to see the Avalanche players playing for their national teams. "The rosters were just unreal. You don’t get to see players like Kane, Crosby, Toews, Gaborik and many other NHL stars every day. But I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the attendance at the Air Canada Center. To my surprise, not even a game featuring Team North America with this year’s first overall pick and future Toronto star Auston Matthews wasn’t sold out,” concluded Martin.

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