The craze for women’s hockey is not fading. It even reached a new peak this Wednesday morning when the approximately 21,000 tickets to attend the match between Montreal and Toronto on April 20 at the Bell Center were sold in less than 20 minutes.
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The sale of tickets for this meeting called “Duel at the top” (Toronto occupies first place in the ranking while Montreal has slipped to third place) began at 10 a.m. Quickly, it was no longer possible to buy them, noted a mother of three from Beloeil, Claudine Leblanc, at 10:18 a.m.
“I’m not surprised at all, but rather excited by people’s response. Like I said when the match was announced: “it’s you [les partisans] who asked for it,” commented the general director of Montreal training in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (LPHF), Danièle Sauvageau.
“From the beginning of January, we were telling people to hurry because the tickets were almost all sold out. [l’Auditorium de] Verdun. Then, there were fewer and fewer left at Place Bell [à Laval] and there were 10,000 people,” recalled the DG. I would have been extremely disappointed if it hadn’t sold.”
The general director of Montreal’s new professional women’s hockey team, Danièle Sauvageau, presented her first three players on Thursday.
Photo MARTIN ALARIE, Le Journal de Montréal
Crazy prices!
The resellers smelled a good deal, to the great dismay of several enthusiasts.
This is particularly the case of Mme Leblanc, who moved forward with his break at work in the hope of buying tickets for his 8-year-old daughter, Coralie, who started playing hockey in January, and his 10-year-old son, Jacob.
“For once the kids didn’t have hockey and it was possible to go. It’s really disappointing to see that tickets sold out so quickly and that a large portion were probably bought by resellers. It makes me sweat so much that I certainly won’t encourage them and I’m not ready to pay a crazy price either,” she denounced to Newspaper.
On the site vols.ca, the cost of a ticket for this match varied between $85 and $244 with boxes going up to $5,699. On StubHub.ca, it was between $66 and $510.
Originally, it was possible to secure a seat for $32. The highest price was $125, for an average of $48.30.
Fans during the warm-up period before the match between Boston and Montreal, at the Verdun Auditorium, Saturday January 13, 2024.
Photo Martin Chevalier
More games at the Bell Centre?
This is the first time that Sauvageau has had to face such a situation and if she could have control over the resellers, she “would be the first to the barricades”.
“Since this morning, I have been told that it is part of the sports and entertainment industry,” she explained. I’m learning to understand the mechanics, because at 9 a.m., there were already tickets on the resale sites.”
Despite everything, the DG is enthusiastic and is already thinking of presenting four or five games at the Bell Center next season.
Marie-Philip Poulin has developed a great relationship with the fans.
Photo Getty Images via AFP
A record
With more than 21,000 spectators to see Marie-Philip Poulin and company in action, the Montreal team will set an attendance record for a women’s hockey game in all competitions.
It will be more of a rematch, since on February 16, Toronto defeated Montreal 3-0 at Scotiabank Arena, in front of 19,285 fans at the Maple Leafs’ home.
Last Saturday, 13,736 fans attended the match between Boston and Ottawa at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, the Red Wings’ home arena, a new mark for a professional women’s hockey match in the United States.
The Canadiens’ Bell Center will thus become the sixth NHL arena to host a women’s circuit game after those of the Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, Leafs, Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.
In its first campaign, the LPHF recorded a total of 281,242 spectators in 52 duels (before Wednesday night’s matches), an average of 5,409 per match.
Top 10 assists in the LPHF
1- 19,285 – February 16 – Montreal v. Toronto (Scotiabank Arena)
2- 13,736 – March 16 – Boston v. Ottawa (Little Caesars Arena)
3-13,316 –January 6 – Montreal v. Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
4-10,186 –February 25 – Boston v. Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
5-10,172 – February 18 – Minnesota v. Montreal (Place Bell)
6-10,172 – March 10 – Ottawa v. Montreal (Place Bell)
7-9006 – March 16 – New York v. Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
8- 8850 – March 17 – Montreal v. Toronto (PPG Paints Arena)
9- 8646 – January 27 – Ottawa v. Montreal (Place Bell)
10-8447 – March 2 – Toronto v. Ottawa (The Arena at TD Place)
Source: Professional Women’s Hockey League