Montreal Gazette

AT THESE PRICES, LITTLE WONDER SEATS SAT EMPTY AT JUNIOR TOURNEY

- STU COWAN scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ StuCowan1

There has been talk — especially on social media — that Montreal should be embarrasse­d by the small crowds at the Bell Centre for most of the World Junior Hockey Championsh­ip.

Another way to look at it is that the city should be proud of itself for refusing to be gouged by ridiculous­ly high prices to watch junior hockey before the Christmas credit-card bills have even arrived in the mail.

Only 8,366 showed up at the 21,273-seat Bell Centre for Thursday afternoon’s bronzemeda­l game in which Russia beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime. Not a surprise considerin­g the cheapest ticket on the Hockey Canada website was $52.50 and the most expensive one was $137.50. If you went on StubHub before the game, tickets were selling there for as little as US$6 — which is half the price of a $12 regularsiz­e draft beer at the Bell Centre, another cost that wouldn’t encourage fans to come to the game. A Bell Centre hot dog costs $5, a regular size soft drink is $5 and a bottle of water is $5.50. Parking inside the Bell Centre costs $30.

So for a family of four to attend the bronze-medal game in the cheapest seats — unless they went to StubHub — with parking, four hot dogs, two soft drinks and two beers for the parents it would have set them back $294. Why not just stay home, order an extra-large pizza, go to the dépanneur for a case of beer and some treats for the kids and watch the game on TV?

Sounds like a better idea to me as the father of a family of four.

There were even suggestion­s that Montreal isn’t a hockey town because people weren’t showing up at the junior tournament until Thursday night’s gold-medal game between Canada and the U.S., which attracted a nearcapaci­ty crowd with ticket prices ranging from $97.50 to $257.50 on the Hockey Canada website. The cheapest ticket for the goldmedal game on StubHub an hour before puck drop was US$70.

Thankfully for the tournament organizers, Team Canada actually made it to the gold-medal game to fill up the Bell Centre and Montreal showed yet again it is an “event” city — whether it’s a gold-medal junior game or an Impact MLS playoff game at the Big O.

The crowds for Canada’s quarter-final and semifinal games weren’t great. Only 10,215 showed up to watch Canada beat the Czech Republic in the quarterfin­als — less than half capacity at the Bell Centre.

Before Canada’s semifinal win over Sweden, tournament organizers slashed ticket prices in some upper-level sections of the Bell Centre from $75 to $35 and the game attracted 13,456 fans.

For a family of four attending the gold-medal game in the cheapest seats — with parking, four hot dogs, two soft drinks and two beers — the cost would have been $474. Not a lot of families can afford — or are willing to pay — that kind of money to watch teenagers play hockey.

On Thursday, Internatio­nal Ice Hockey Federation president René Fasel suggested Montrealer­s only care about the Canadiens, which is why the junior ticket sales were so weak.

“Here, everyone says, there’s one team — it’s Canadiens, Canadiens, Canadiens,” Fasel said. “Montreal is the Montreal Canadiens, there you go.”

In a perfect world, the junior tournament would be a family event during which parents who can’t afford to take their kids to a Canadiens game would be able to bring them to the Bell Centre to watch the NHLers of the future at reasonable prices for tickets and at the concession stands. But like the Canadiens, this tournament has outpriced most families.

TSN and RDS have turned the junior tournament into a madefor-TV event and it’s simply easier and much cheaper to stay home and watch from the comfort of your couch.

The Canadiens have sold out 517 consecutiv­e games at the Bell Centre, dating back to Jan. 8, 2004, with ticket prices for next Monday’s game against the Washington Capitals ranging from $49 in the Family Zone to $571 for a Platinum seat. A big reason for the sellout streak is corporate season tickets, with companies able to write off about 50 per cent of the amount at tax time. And people who were given free tickets from a friend or company are more likely willing to pay $14 for a beer and $5 for a hot dog — not to mention $5.50 for bottle of water.

Attendance at the world junior tournament should send some warning signals to the Canadiens, who will be moving their AHL farm team from St. John’s to a new 10,000-seat arena in Laval next season.

If the AHL team — called the Rocket — is going to succeed there, prices will have to be reasonable for tickets and at the concession stand.

As for the world junior tournament, I wouldn’t expect to see it come back to Montreal for a long time — if ever.

I don’t think most Montrealer­s will really care ... they’ll just watch the games on TV.

 ?? JOHN MAHONEY ?? While the Bell Centre was half-full for quarter-final and semifinal matches, it was near capacity for Thursday’s gold-medal match.
JOHN MAHONEY While the Bell Centre was half-full for quarter-final and semifinal matches, it was near capacity for Thursday’s gold-medal match.
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