Edmonton Oilers fans were scrambling Monday morning to snatch up the final playoff tickets for the team’s first-round series against the San Jose Sharks.
A limited amount of tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Monday online and sold quickly with only hundreds available.
“There’s no question Oilers fans have proven themselves to be the most passionate, the most loyal fans in the world of sports anywhere over the last 10 years,” Stew MacDonald, with the Oilers Entertainment Group, said.
Minutes after the sale started, some Twitter users began tweeting they weren’t able to purchase tickets.
Others had more luck.
Marcel Schoenhardt was one of the lucky fans who purchased tickets. The die-hard Oiler fan bought three tickets for game 2 of the series.
“I had my phone going and I had my computer open just in case, and once 10 o’clock hit the phone wouldn’t refresh quick enough so I just jumped on the computer instead,” Schoenhardt said.
“Just picked best available tickets, as many as I could, as fast as I could, and I couldn’t believe it actually said verify tickets.”
Schoenhardt’s lower bowl tickets cost $230 each.
Watch below: How much will it cost Oilers fans to watch a playoff game in San Jose? We crunched the numbers.
Season ticket holders had the first chance to reserve playoff tickets before they went on sale to the general public Monday, and many season ticket holders took advantage of the opportunity.
“They were pretty much gone in the space of a few minutes – less than five minutes. So now it’s on to our fan-to-fan resale,” MacDonald said.
Fans could also sign up for email alerts for any last minute tickets released on Oilers playoff game days.
“What we saw in 2006 was the best environment for hockey ever and our belief is that’s going to be back starting on Wednesday night here,” MacDonald added.
Subscribers to the Last Minute Ticket Alert program will receive an email when ticket holds are released.
Oilers vs. Sharks first round series:
Game 1: Wednesday, April 12 at Edmonton (8 p.m. MST)
Game 2: Friday, April 14 at Edmonton (8:30 p.m. MST)
Game 3: Sunday, April 16 at San Jose (8 p.m. MST)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 18 at San Jose (8 p.m. MST)
Game 5: Thursday, April 20 at Edmonton *If necessary
Game 6: Saturday, April 22 at San Jose *If necessary
Game 7: Monday, April at Edmonton *If necessary
At United Cycle, fans have already started snapping up anything with the Oilers name on it.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the amount of traffic, which means increased business. It just seems everyone can’t get enough of the Oilers brand,” said Kelly Hodgson, United Cycle brand manager.
Car flags are among the biggest sellers: “we can’t keep them in stock. We had a great weekend this past weekend and we have another 1,500 coming in.”
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