For an event like the Hockey final four, is is impractical for the ticket
agencies to buy huge blocks of tickets as they may get stuck with them
(like they were in Milwaukee with a BU-UND final) and be out quite a large
sum of money.
 
Additionally, with most of the tickets sold via mail-order applications,
and the rest sold many months prior to the event, I would wager to say that
a significantly large majority of ticketholders are ones that purchased the
tickets with intent to attend.
 
For all the fair-weather fans who wouldn't buy tickets until they *knew*
their team would be in the final, they get what they deserve in being
forced to pay premiums for the tickets. I'm not just talking about BC fans
who didn't buy their tickets in January (or earlier). We had extra tickets
for all the games, but few people expressed interest in buying the entire
package. Why? Most fans wanted to see who would be in the final --
especially the BC fans.
 
Many BC fans asked me before the BC-OSU semi if I had tickets (since I was
wearing my BU jersey). I told them I only had extras for the final, and
they walked away. Yet once the game was over, I was hounded by BC fans
looking for tickets. One fellow offered me a large sum of cash for them. I
took it. Best of all, he didn't complain about the price he was paying.
 
One of the things I like the most about the hockey frozen four is that so
many of the fans go every year, regardless of location or team -- about
7,000 of them go every single year according to the NCAA. The tournament
isn't a status issue, as it is with bowl games and the roundball
tournaments. For the most part, businesses aren't impressing clients with
tickets, and even the most expensive ticket will fetch a couple beans at
best. Try buying a single ticket to the championship roundball for less
than $250.
 
In a way I almost kind of wish that no Boston team would have made it to
the final four this year, as the house would have been filled only with
solid hockey fans and not bandwagon jumpers. Now *that* would have been the
best way to judge if Boston is "hockeytown" or not.
 
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