Tickets for NHL preseason game in Halifax sell out in minutes

Jeff Dumville’s collection of Pittsburgh Penguins’ memorabilia is missing a few items.

Tickets to an upcoming preseason game in Halifax went on sale Wednesday, but Dumville says a technical issue prevented him from buying any.

“We were in the queue early, and I got up to number 45, and then I got booted out,” Dumville says.

When he got back in line, 2,000 others were ahead of him.

His wife got close but had no luck.

“She got the tickets and went to pay for them and got booted out,” says Dumville.

The game between the Penguins and Ottawa Senators at the Scotiabank Centre in October has garnered “extremely high demand,” said a spokesperson for Events East, the Crown corporation which oversees operations at the venue.

Pre-sale tickets were made available to Halifax Mooseheads season ticket holders before opening up to the public. Soon after, tickets started popping up on resale sites at predictably jacked-up prices.

“What we often see are other fans, people who are looking to buy tickets and then sell them back to make money. The price is set by the seller, not by Ticketmaster,” Esiyok-Prime says.

Up to $3,000 in some cases -- significantly more than Dumville paid to see a regular season game in Pittsburgh.

“We went down there and had great seats right behind the glass, cost me $147 for a ticket,” he says.

Dumville is still hoping to score a couple tickets but he won’t pay the exorbitant prices that are on resale websites. There is hope for those who were not able to get tickets.

Erin Esyiock Prime says tickets typically become available closer to the event, so keep checking.

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