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The joke before this series started was that Games 1 through 4 would all be guaranteed home-ice advantage for Toronto.
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It was a shot at the Senators being unable to keep Leafs fans from infiltrating the Canadian Tire Centre, which often occurs in regular-season matches.
In the early 2000s when facing the Leafs four times in playoffs, the Sens tried to get local media on board to urge the national capital region with Toronto ties to ‘leave your blue and white at home’ and keep tickets in the family.
New team owner Michael Andlauer has a plan, but it remains to be seen if it works when play moves to Bytown on Thursday with the Leafs now up 2-0 in the series.
Senators season-ticket holders were given the option of buying two more with the hope of keeping Toronto numbers down. But it’s not a secret that Ottawa subscribers help defer their annual costs by packaging off seats when the popular Leafs and Canadiens are in town.
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The two Florida teams the Leafs have played previously in playoffs tried keeping fans in the north by accepting only credit cards with U.S. home addresses, but Canadian snowbirds helped get around that.
All playoff ducats surely will come with some sticker shock around Ottawa, which has been out the past eight seasons as modern resale options removed the barrier of a sellout. Standing room at the CTC was almost gone at $249 face value as of Wednesday afternoon, especially in the end the Leafs will shoot at for two periods, rising to $450 on re-sale for Saturday’s Game 4.
That’s still less than Scotiabank Arena prices, which has standing room in the $500 re-sale range for Game 5.
But, should the Leafs win Thursday, the potential to open up even more seats for Toronto fans on Saturday is there as elimination games are naturally unpopular for the home side.
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The Sens hesitated to put playoff seats on sale this month even when they clinched a spot until sure of the opponent. It was likely done in part to hike prices if they drew a premium opponent such as the Leafs.
But the delayed release might have been a missed opportunity to ensure there was plenty of red and black in the stands, no matter who they ended up facing.
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Most Leafs players have not known anything except a split-support building in Ottawa, not that winger Steven Lorentz is taking it for granted that fans will shell out for the travel cost and ticket fees.
“It’s great to have the fans, it’s definitely not cheap to go to these games,” Lorentz said Wednesday. “I’d like to think it’s worth it. You’re seeing two teams that really don’t like each other and the hockey at this time of year is always going to be top notch.
“We appreciate that they pay their money and have every right to cheer and boo as loud as they want. We hear them, we thrive off that, it means a lot to us.
“I don’t know how many Leaf fans will be allowed. But energy is energy, it doesn’t matter if they’re booing you, for or against you. The ‘Go Leafs Go’ chants work at home and we expect a loud crowd in their favour and we can use.”
X: @sunhornby
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