The Stadium Series Ticket Face-Off

February might seem like a long ways off, but the pre-sale tickets for the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series outdoor game vs. the Detroit Red Wings are already underway. The game on Saturday, February 27, 2016 will be the first ever outdoor NHL game in Colorado, with ticket prices starting at $70 and range up to $430. The price includes a ticket for the "old timers" game on Friday, February 26.

Pre-sale started last Monday for full season ticket and suite holders as well as sponsors. Not all full season ticket members were even allowed access to purchase them last week, as there is hierarchy of sorts within the ticket owners themselves. My family has had season tickets since 1995, and we were not even given access to buy tickets until this week, the same week that some Rockies season ticket members are allowed to purchase them. Next week, Red Wing season ticket holders will be able to get in on the pre-sale fun. As if there weren’t enough Red Wings fan in Colorado already.

There is a chance that the tickets may never even be made available to the general public. As excited as I am for what will no doubt be an amazing game, assuming the Avs take home a W of course, the fiasco of buying the tickets seems a little bit off kilter. It’s ironic that the Stadium Series is a salute to old school hockey, where players and fans have to brace the elements of the winter weather all in the name of the sport they love, but now it has become a battle of who has the highest rank among season ticket holders and sponsors. Some of the best and biggest fans of the Avs and the game may not even get an opportunity to experience the outdoor game with the extremely high cost and lack of accessibility. Not to mention that the size of Coors Field alone is going to limit the visibility of the game from some seats anyways. Is the "Rock Pile" gonna be called the "North Pole"? I think that an outdoor game at CU’s Folsom Field would be more appropriate, but can only imagine the ticket buying frenzy for that venue.

With all that being said, the Alumni Game will feature players from the greatest Avs-Wings rivalry era where Sakic, Roy, Forseberg, and Blake will once again face off against Chelios, Shanahan, Larionov and Lidstrom. The thought of seeing all the classic old boys messing around in toques on a chilly evening in February may be worth the cost of admission right there. The rest of the line-up will be announced closer to the game. My fingers are crossed that Claude Lemieux’s name will be among them. Speaking as a season ticket holder who bought tickets right when my access time was granted and paid the lofty price to see this once in a life time event, I can’t wait to be able to host and defeat the Red Wings on our own ice. It might not be on a pond, but I don’t think it will get much better than that. Blizzard anyone?