COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Fans packed a downtown Colorado Springs watch party at Trainwreck for Game one of the Western Conference Finals, saying the energy in the room felt just as electric as being at the arena.
Regina Andrews, Adam Caldwell, and a young fan named Dillon Stossmeister were among those who came out to cheer on the Colorado Avalanche together.
Andrews said the team's performance this season has fueled the excitement.
"The Avs are the best team in the league right now and have been all season, so I think that kind of brought up the energy and the camaraderie," said Andrews.
Her love of hockey goes back to childhood, though it wasn't exactly her idea at first.
"My mother, when my brother and I were little kids, would go out on Fridays with her girls, and my dad had no choice but to take me and my brother to hockey games every Friday," said Andrews.
Caldwell said he became a fan when the team moved to Denver and changed its name from the Nordiques to the Colorado Avalanche in 1995.
"My mom always said if there's a fight happening, there's probably a hockey game going on, so, I never really got into hockey until they showed up here in Colorado up in Denver and I learned the game and fell in love right away," said Caldwell.
5 year old Stossmeister, who is just beginning his own ice skating journey, is already all in on the Avs.
"I always fall down in like a few minutes but some of the times I can glide a little bit," said Stossmeister.
He summed up his confidence in the team simply.
"You said to me, I think that they never lose," said Stossmeister. "Yeah, except one time."
He tells News5 the Avs will win by 100 points.
Andrews said a Stanley Cup run would be the ultimate reward for fans. One loss isn't stopping her from manifesting a win of the Western Conference Finals.
"If we won another Stanley Cup? Oh my God, that would be a dream. That would just be exactly what I want actually!" Andrews said.
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