Maple Leafs to give away tickets to home opener
Posted January 17, 2013 6:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – The Toronto Maple Leafs — one of the priciest ticket vendors in the league — will give away 1,000 tickets to the home opener against the Buffalo Sabres Monday.
Late Thursday, the hockey club said it will give away tickets to 1,000 hockey fans lucky enough to nab them through promotions leading up to the home opener.
The team said its some 15,000 season ticketholders will get ducats for the home opener free of charge, too.
“It’s all about just thanking our fans for their patience and their loyalty and welcoming them back in style,” Tom Anselmi, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment told 680News. “Opening night’s on us.”
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Reaction was mixed to the ticket giveaway.
“It’s a short-term solution,” one man said. “I think it’s more important for the Leafs to drop their ticket prices.”
“I think it’s probably a good first step but there is a lot of work to be done,” another man said.
Other fans were pleased with the offer.
“They don’t have to do that but I’m stoked for it,” one fan said.
“Maybe they should give some more,” another fan said. “But it’s a good thing they’re doing this, at least something.”
Anselmi said the hockey club is doing its best to patch up its relationship with fans.
“We’re trying to open the doors as wide as possible and be as inclusive as possible,” he said.
“Obviously, when you’re in the greatest hockey market in the world and you’ve only got 20,000 seats, you can’t satisfy everyone but we’re trying our best.”
The Leafs’ “Blue and White Crew” will be on the lookout for Leaf Nation’s loyalty in the Greater Toronto Area where they will randomly award home opener tickets to fans over the next four days.
Leafs alumni will greet fans at the home opener Monday at the Air Canada Centre and all attendees will receive a commemorative scarf.
On Thursday, fans filled the Air Canada Centre for an open practice. Access was on a first-come, first-served basis and fans were treated to popcorn, coffee and hot chocolate.
Most fans said they were willing to put the 113-day lockout behind them and focus on the return of hockey as the practice got underway.
“It just makes you feel happy about hockey,” one fan said. “I don’t think you’re going to find many true Leafs fans that are going to be that upset.”
However, another fan, clad in a sweater with the Leafs logo struck out with an X in blue hockey tape, said the fans were snubbed.
“I’m very angry,” he said. “I think Gary Bettman and the other owners abused the fans and the ones that took it the hardest, were not the players — they were the fans,” he said.
The Leafs will also host a free road game viewing party at the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 23 when the team takes on the Ottawa Senators.
