Editor's note: YourHub.com asked Avalanche fans "Why should you and 15 of your closest friends deserve to win a suite?" Here is what one fan wrote.
There are no 16 Avs fans more deserving of a suite at the January 3 game than the members of the Volunteer Leadership Council at Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) in Wheat Ridge, CO. This group of Officials, elected by their 800 teammates, oversees dozens of breakaway services provided to the staff, patients, visitors and community of Jefferson County's oldest and most beloved hospital. Their power plays range from pet therapy to non-medical customer problem solving. Some drive the parking lot courtesy cart, fondly called "The Zamboni" during hockey season. Some sell sweaters and other game gear in the gift shop. They direct the fundraising puck of $200,000 per year in charitable giving--modeling the off-ice generosity of their hard-charging Avs. They shoot! They score! Their most recent goals were scholarships for health-care bound students, a TV for the fans in the Emergency Waiting Room and $25,000 for Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Colorado (matched by their Exempla corporate parent for a total of $50,000). How's that for a hat trick!
Recovering from a seasonal bout of Avalanche deprivation, these volunteer leaders will arrive the third of Jan at The Can in a hospital van waving a "Go Avs! Thank You Yourhub.com!" banner. Pre-game, they'll face off over their annual game plan at a training table in the Ridgeline. Then they'll relish a sweet Avs victory over the Nashville Predators, whom they regard as a scourge to be eradicated like the cancer, the flu and other body checks they butt heads with 24/7/356 back on home ice. Finally, they'll record their experience for post-game posterity, submitting photos and eyewitness accounts to the sports bureau chief at YourHub.com World Headquarters--on deadline!
Nobody serves the community better. Nobody deserves the suite more than the LMC Volunteer Leadership Council aka Avs Fanatics who, keeping their sticks on the ice, are: Debbie "Deke" Anderson, Phil "Penalty Killer" Belair, Kumar and Roberta "Red Line" Bhasin, Cathy "The Crease" Callahan, Edith "The Elbow" Christiansen, Bonnie "High Stick" Hayes, Erlene "The Line" Hulsey-Lutz, Josee "The Knee" Kirmus, Chuck "Cross Check" Lautenbach, Alicia "Assist" Meerdink, Donna "Diamond" Paladino, Betty "The Blocker" Snyder, Donna "Tripper" Taylor, Linda "Wings" Romano, and Captain Dan "The Driver" Robinson.