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Montreal Canadiens: To Sell or Not To Sell

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 12: General view of the arena during the first period of Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round series of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens on April 12, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 12: General view of the arena during the first period of Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round series of the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens on April 12, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens may not have a full house tonight at the Bell Center for their home opener as tickets are still available.

The moment that many fans of NHL teams is the home opener. It’s always good to watch the opening celebrations and the player roll call. The ceremony is even better If you were lucky enough to win a Divisional or Conference title or the Stanley Cup the year before. Considering the Montreal Canadiens won the Atlantic, Tuesday night’s opener should be  electrifying.

You would expect a night like this to be completely sold out right? Especially in a market like Montreal’s that has some of the most passionate fans in the league. Well, there are a lot of tickets still available for the game.

It’s easy to jump to conclusions as to why this is the case. Some have taken the team’s very early “struggles” and made the suggestion that the lack of sales is in direct response to it. There have been times where Montreal Canadiens fans haven’t gone to games when the team wasn’t playing too well.

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That could be a part of it sure, but the main reason has to be the prices. The majority of the tickets still available are north of $500.

This isn’t just exclusive to Montreal. A lot of other cities have expensive tickets as well and it’s impacting the amount of people who can afford to go. Spending over $1000 for a pair of tickets is a tough sell to even the most die-hard Habs fan. Also it doesn’t help that the team hasn’t been able to score goals that weren’t called off as much as they’d like.

Even if the Bell Center doesn’t completely sell out, it’s going to be a good night for the Montreal Canadiens and the fans. You could point the finger and blame Geoff Molson if you want, but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.

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What do you make of this? Is the lack of sales because of the team or the prices? Let us know what you think down below.

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