General public goes digital for Golden Knights tickets

Another morsel of Las Vegas hockey history was made Monday when single-game tickets for the Vegas-Whitefish Golden Knights went on sale to the general public.

You could only get them online — the most efficient method for securing hockey tickets, one supposes. But it’s not nearly as cool as camping out at the box office overnight to acquire them the old-fashioned way.

When tickets went on sale at noon, I was at T-Mobile Arena, just in case some Flyers fans showed up. VGK will host Philadelphia on Feb. 11, 2018, and some Flyers fans I have known — particularly those who recall the Broad Street Bullies era with a gap-toothed fondness — were not always so good at following directions.

The Black Eyed Peas were singing about tonight being a good night on a continuous loop. Otherwise, the ticket plaza was eerily quiet. All 11 windows at the box office had a CLOSED sign posted in purple lights. The ATM to the right of the box office, normally used to withdraw huge sums of cash spent on a good night at T-Mobile, also was still.

Inside The Armory, a Maple Leafs fan from the Punch Imlach days was asking a worker if he could see the ice surface. Like Golden Knights jerseys, he was told there was no ice surface to be seen.

Paul D., the man behind the counter, was asked if any hockey fans had ducked inside the team store in an ill-fated bid to purchase single-game tickets.

“All the time,” he said.

“Flyers fans?”

“From all over … a lot from Canada.”

Nothing for the scrapbook

A Golden Knights spokesman said commemorative tickets will be given to fans at the home opener as souvenirs, but tickets into the game will still be digital. No torn stub with the team logo printed in four colors to hang onto as a keepsake.

StubHub clients won’t understand this, but once there was charm and romance to queueing up to purchase tickets to a sporting event (or Led Zeppelin concert).

The woman behind the counter, who usually wore her eyeglasses on a chain, would slide them into a little envelope. You’d clutch it to your breast, as if the Hope Diamond was inside. If you were a Flyers fan, you’d take the tickets out of the envelope and fan yourself with them, to taunt those still standing in line.

When you got home, you’d put the envelope with the tickets in a safe place, such as the sock drawer where your dad hid his Playboys. Or you’d attach it to the refrigerator with a decorative magnet, to serve as a constant reminder of the big game you’d be witnessing in a couple of months, and why your feet still hurt from standing in line.

This, I believe, is why the 51s still allow fans the option of purchasing Big League Weekend tickets at the Cashman Field box office on the first day they are available. Invariably, a few grizzled baseball fans with spotty Wi-Fi connections will show up. Invariably, one will fan himself with his tickets upon receiving them.

99 reasons to stand in line

One of the last hockey games for which I camped out for tickets was Kings vs. Blackhawks at old Chicago Stadium. The details, like that famous 1975 playoff game between the Flyers and Sabres at creeky Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, are somewhat foggy. It was either the last game in which The Great One was to skate in Chicago, or one of the last ones.

By then, both Wayne Gretzky and Chicago Stadium were on their last legs.

By then, you didn’t have to camp out for tickets at the Stadium, which was located in the dodgiest of neighborhoods. You camped out at Ticketron, which is what satellite box offices were called before smartphones. One could often find Ticketron in the bowels of a Sears store, where one bought tires or went to the bathroom.

Mom and I waited a long time for same-day hockey tickets. We declined the generous offer on a new set of Roadhandlers.

Gretzky wound up not playing that night. He was a late scratch due to injury. When the puck was dropped, Mom and I were seated directly behind a giant post that was holding up the mezzanine at old Chicago Stadium.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.