Vancouver Canucks ticket prices surge

What a difference a year makes.

Last year, nobody cared about the Vancouver Canucks. This year, nobody can afford tickets.

While that may be an exaggeration, it’s no secret that if the team does better, ticket prices go up, given the laws of supply and demand.

It wasn’t that long ago you could catch a game for around $60. This season, particularly after the initial first few home games, fans are lucky to get through the door for less than $100.

But even with ticket prices soaring, fans are still willing to fork it over. Thursday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings is completely sold out, with the cheapest resale ticket on Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner of the Canucks, setting you back roughly $100.

Kingsley Bailey, who’s been reselling Canucks tickets for nearly 30 years, says he’s not surprised fans are still willing to fork over the dough.

“The fan support in this city is if the team is doing well, everybody’s on that wagon and when they’re not doing well, you can leave a couple tickets on somebody’s windshield and come back and there’s four there,” he said.

Bailey says he sees a lot of people who are looking to see a game for the very first time.

“I tell them the prices and they kind of cringe,” he said. “And then I tell them there’s a really good alternative, if you don’t mind — watching the Abbotsford Canucks game. The prices are really reasonable, and they still get to see hockey. That’s probably right now the only alternative.”

The way this season is going, it appears the Canucks are poised to make their biggest playoff push in more than a decade, and Bailey thinks the cost of catching post-season action at Rogers Arena is probably going to cost you an arm and a leg.

“The prices are going to be high. This is a rarity where you see a team has made the playoffs and we knew they made it January. People are really excited, and a lot of people know they won’t be able go to a playoff game, so they’re really trying to get to one of these remaining games of the season.”

Tickets for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs are currently unavailable on Ticketmaster. However, contingent tickets are available through StubHub, featuring two seats in Section 314 for the initial home playoff game listed at $314 each.