From a room in a bar in the Czech Republic, members of the Eurolanche fan club tune in for a chance to see their team win the Stanley Cup.
Corey Perry (10) falls over goalie Darcy Kuemper as he attempts to cover the puck
Around midnight the group of 40 Avalanche fans meets at the Arena Sports Bar in Brno. They are physically halfway around the world, but in spirit, they are cheering from Mt. Loud.
David Puchovsky is the president of the largest European Avalanche fan club. He has organized watch parties for the fans who were unable to make it to Denver but still want to cheer on their favorite team.
Inside Ball Arena, there are plenty of fans who have traveled to cheer on their team.
Scott and Terri Demalteris had to sell their season tickets for the final in Tampa because they were on vacation in Denver at the time. Luckily for them, their team was playing against the Avalanche in the Final. They got tickets for game 5 and are hoping the Lightning push it one more game.
Outside of the game, Scott and Terri were seeing what Colorado has to offer. Doing some hiking and white-water rafting.
The Demalteris’ season tickets at Amalie Arena are “right behind Vasy, about four rows up.” Their tickets for game 5 would feel familiar as they will be right behind Vasilevskiy, about four rows up.
“Obviously, the Avalanche are a great team, we are just looking to take it one game at a time.”
Scott predicted a one-goal game with the final score being 3-2 or 4-3. He was spot on, but he also thought this would go to overtime. Not a bad prediction.
Even fans of the game of hockey showed up to witness a potential cup-winning game.
Joel Frank lives in Denver now but grew up in New York as a Canadiens fan. He came to the game to cheer on the Avalanche, not because they are his adopted team, but to avenge his beloved Canadiens from last year’s loss to Tampa Bay.
Mikhail Sergachev (98) cross checks Nazem Kadri (91)
“I’ve been a Habs fan since I was 4,” Frank explained. “Last year, as you may know, we made it to the Stanley Cup against the Lightning, and lost. So this year I’m here to see the Avalanche beat them,” Frank said.
Sometimes seeing vengeance for your favorite team can be priceless. On game day, prices for a ticket to Game 5 were over $1,300.
“I don’t care. Lehkonen would be fine,” said Frank. “He was with the Canadiens before and was responsible for bringing the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup and he was responsible for getting the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup against the Oilers, so I’d love to see him do that. But any of the boys would be fine,” Frank said.
Even a large group of Lightning fans got a section near the press box to cheer on Tampa Bay. These fans were a group of about 120 employees of the organization who were flown in by the owner to watch their team.
“I guess I haven’t been part of other organizations, so for me to throw around the greatest owner in sports, I just haven’t seen what other owners are like,” Tampa Bay Head Coach John Cooper said in the postgame when asked about the owner flying in his employees. “If there’s a better owner out there, I’d like to meet them,” 
Avalanche fans came away disappointed after Game 5. Colorado never held a lead in the game and every scoring chance seemed to be shut down by Vasilevskiy.
Game 6 will be in Tampa at Amalie Arena on Sunday, June 26. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET.
Photos by Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
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