Senators Owner: 'Very Disturbing' To be Unable To Sell Out Game 6 Of Conference Finals
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Ottawa Senators will fight to keep their season alive on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and there aren't enough Senators fans who want to witness it.
A check of the official Ticketmaster site just before noon on Tuesday showed hundreds of tickets available for purchase, mostly in the 300 level but also scattered in the lower bowl. Most of the 300 level tickets are available for between $100 and $135 Canadian dollars, or roughly $75-$100 U.S. dollars.
Ticket resale site StubHub had 360 tickets available late Tuesday morning, priced between $86 and $175 U.S. dollars in the upper level and $155 and up in the lower level.
Considering this is Game 6 of the conference finals, and considering the Senators need a win to force a Game 7 and extend the season, team owner Eugene Melnyk is not happy with what he sees.
"It's very disturbing," Melnyk told Bruce Garrioch. "However, knowing the players and coaches, they will be trying their hardest for Ottawa."
Garrioch himself added this:
"The market came under the microscope in Game 1 of the Eastern semifinal against the New York Rangers, when an embarrassing crowd of 16,744 showed up.
"If this game isn't sold-out, it's going to raise a lot of questions about the marketplace."
The Senators this season ranked 24th in attendance in terms of percentage at 87.4 percent, according to ESPN's attendance tracker. In terms of number of fans, Ottawa ranked 21st with 16,744.
It's a surprising fact, considering the team is located in Ottawa and has been the most successful Senators team since 2007. By contrast, a less traditional hockey market like Nashville was filled at 100 percent this season. In addition to selling out their own conference final Game 6 on Monday night, thousands of Nashville fans gathered outside the arena to watch (and then celebrate) the victory.
Granted, excitement is not exactly filling the air in Ottawa as the Senators come off a 7-0 loss in Game 5. Yet it was Ottawa handing out the thumping just two games earlier, and the Senators are still very much alive in this postseason.
The puck drops around 8 p.m. ET, and as of noon on Tuesday, it's a fair question whether or not the arena will be filled.
