Winnipeg Snaps Up Season Tix

If swift season ticket sales are any indication, the new owners of the Atlanta Thrashers and the National Hockey League can rest assured their recent decision to move the foundering team to Winnipeg was a good one.

True North Sports and Entertainment, which reportedly paid $170 million to bring the Thrashers to Canada, launched a “Drive to 13,000” season-ticket campaign shortly after announcing its purchase of the team last week. Hockey fans heeded that call.

Fans in the region snatched up more than 7,000 season tickets during a special pre-sale for current AHL Manitoba Moose ticketholders and a remaining 6,000 public onsale season tickets sold out June 4 in less than 20 minutes.

“While I had no doubt the ‘Drive to 13,000’ would reach its destination, the remarkable speed at which it got there certifies fans’ hunger for NHL hockey and their commitment to True North’s initiatives,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

Fans weren’t the only ones hungering for tickets, however.

It appears scalpers also tried to get in on the action as fewer than 2,000 tickets will be available for each game at the team’s new home – the 15,000-capacity MTS Centre.

Scott Brown, a spokesman for the still-unnamed team, told the Winnipeg Free Press many season-ticket orders have already been canceled because buyers weren’t playing by the rules.

“We told people there are a large number of legal stipulations that they must follow through on,” Brown said. “As the vendor, we have the ability to cancel the transaction if we think it’s not legitimate.”

He added that because True North Sports and Entertainment showed loyalty to Moose season ticketholders by offering an exclusive presale, the company expects “them to show the responsibility back.”

The NHL Board of Governors is scheduled to vote to approve the sale of the team June 21.