Canada-U.S. hockey tickets going for tens of thousands

This is nuts but I guess not for the Canadians, as hosting their own Olympics and then watching their hockey team go the final gold medal round is a big deal, especially after how the games started off with the sad death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luge slider. I hate to see the American’s ruin it for them this afternoon as I talk about in my other post on this today, but…..the US is well, the US. Medal maniacs of the 2010 Vancouver games.

VANCOUVER (AP) — Its hard to say if Olympic records are being set, but tickets for Sunday’s Canada-U.S. gold medal hockey match may be the hottest in the history of Canadian sports.

On the official fan-to-fan resale Web site run by the Vancouver Organizing Committee, seats were being offered for several thousand dollars apiece.

On Craigslist, many of the tickets on sale were going for more than $4,000, and one seller was offering two “awesome seats” for $14,999 — cash only.

Canada, playing before rabid fans in the nation that invented hockey, will be taking on a strong U.S. team that prevailed 5-3 when the two teams met in the preliminary round. Even before the Olympics started, Canadians were suggesting that anything less than a gold medal would be a devastating blow.

The game is expected to become the most-watched sports event ever in Canada, likely breaking the mark of 10.6 million TV viewers for the preliminary-round Canada-U.S. game.

Organizers were philosophical Saturday when asked about the high ticket prices.

“No one is being forced to buy tickets they don't want,” said Mark Adams, a spokesman for the International Olympic Committee.

via Canada-U.S. hockey tickets going for sky-high prices | NBC Olympics.

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