Eurolanche, which bills itself as the first European Fan Club of the Colorado Avalanche, is on its eighth trek to see its favorite team in person. The name of this journey? Eurolanche Invasion VIII, of course.
The group flew to Denver on Wednesday from Vienna and were at Pepsi Center a few hours later to see the Avalanche defeat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in a shootout.
The online fan club, which claims to have 591 members in 31 countries, was started by David Puchovsky, 25, of Slovakia. In 2000, when Puchovsky was 10 years old, a friend told him about the Avalanche and he immediately became hooked. Seven years later he started the club because "It was the only team I knew," he said at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
Eurolanche made its first trip with a handful of members in 2008 and the numbers have grown each year. There are 12 members from five different countries -- each a Eurolanche record -- on this latest trip. Many of them met for the first time at a November orientation in Prague. Wednesday, the 12 embarked on their 16-day trip, which includes a two-day side trip to Las Vegas.
The members estimate the trip will cost each of them 2,000 Euros, about $2,200 in American dollars. Only one of the 12 is married -- his wife agreed to watch the kids -- and another, Norbert Gruber from Vienna, is getting married in July.
