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In what could be a sign of things to come, tickets were still on sale hours before puck drop. By Monday afternoon,  still showed available seats both in the lower and upper bowls — in addition to plenty of resale tickets.

The cheapest ticket was for standing room only, with an obstructed view, in the 300 level, for $269.50 (including fees). They were available at the lunch hour but gone by late afternoon.  

Seats in the lower bowl ranged from $668.50 to $1,162.50 each by late afternoon. The best available seat from the box office at noon was in the first row of Section 107, at the blue line for $2,115.50.

The high cost is nothing out of the ordinary for the hottest ticket in town. But it’s usually reflected on the resale market where fans (and scalpers) are trying to cash in, said Cary Kaplan of Cosmos Sports & Entertainment.

Some Edmonton Oilers season ticket holders last year were getting as much a $10,000 a seat for their tickets, he noted.

The availability of box office tickets this close to game time might be a case of the “economy talking” and the consumer “walking away,” said Vijay Setlur, a sports marketing expert and business instructor at York University.

Many people are feeling the pinch and putting a limit on what they are willing to spend due to the current economic climate. At the same time, sports organizations are doing their best to squeeze as much money from their sales as possible, instead of letting resellers get a profit.

“Maximizing revenue generation is paramount for sports franchises,” said Setlur, noting it’s especially true for teams generating Canadian dollars in revenue but with player salary costs in U.S. dollars.

A team like the Leafs might generate a big chunk of its ticket revenue from premium seating in suites, VIP clubs and lounges. But it’s still important to prioritize income from all available options — hence why even single tickets are increasingly expensive, he said.

“The Leafs conduct research to determine the ticket price points the market can bear, hence demonstrating the importance of maximizing revenue from all inventory,” he said.

�մǰ��DzԳٴ���dispatched the Ottawa Senators in the first round in the Battle of Ontario in six games. There were still tickets on the day of the game from the box office at Scotiabank Arena for the first round as well.

The Leafs are trying to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2002. As hockey fans in pc28����are constantly reminded, it’s been almost 60 years since the franchise won the Stanley Cup, last winning the NHL championship in 1967.