Eurolanche

Member story: Andy from USA

The Eurolanche Fan Club organizes trips to the USA every year. The project is called “Eurolanche Invasion”. Over the course of nine organized trips, Eurolanche members have met many local US fans and have made long-lasting friendships with several of them. Like with Andy Kay, who spent most of his life living in Colorado and even made his own Invasion to Europe back in 2012. “I had the fortune of travelling to Slovakia in 2012 to meet with Eurolanche members at their summer meeting in Bratislava. With no hockey being played at the time, I travelled to many places, five countries, and had a heck of a great time.  A Eurolanche paintball outing was a special treat on the outskirts of Bratislava, as that is also one of my favorite activities,” Andy remembered.

Andy met the first Eurolanche members in 2009 during the Eurolanche Invasion II. He was invited by them to join the group for the games they’d attend. Since then, Andy became part of almost every following Invasion. “It was a great experience to be with European fans that were so enthusiastic for the Avs and NHL hockey. I think I got a few nice autographs that time around too, because I was always invited to be part of the games, practice facility visits, Avs player meetings, and festivities and had the pleasure of meeting many great members and making new friends from all over Europe,” said Andy.

Andy certainly experienced many unforgettable moments with the participants of Eurolanche Invasions. What is the most unforgettable moment? “Eurolanche Invasion VI was over the course of New Year's Day 2014 in Denver and was certainly the most wild and memorable of the Invasions for me. It still focused on Avalanche hockey of course, but the trip had expanded to include other NHL cities and activities that were not solely focused on hockey. I think this was a natural progression that will make even more members thirsty to be part of future Eurolanche Invasions,” explained Andy.

Andy became a hockey fan when he was small kid. His first bed had hockey sheets. He even remembers the Colorado Rockies after his family moved to Colorado in 1976. He loved to watch high school games and later supported the Denver Grizzlies during their only, but very successful 1994/95 season, in which they became IHL champions. Then the city welcomed an NHL franchise. “We were all very excited.  Even friends who were not normally sports fans would gather to watch the newly arrived Colorado Avalanche games as fall 1995 rolled around.  And what a season we were treated to that year! Colorado's first major sports trophy was the Stanley Cup in 1996!  After that, hockey was the only sport I had taste for and seeing another Stanley Cup season in 2001, attending the parade along with the huge crowds was truly something to see,” concluded Andy, who moved to Los Angeles in 2014, but managed to come to Denver for Invasion VIII and welcomed members of Invasion IX in the city he now calls his home.

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