No matter how casual or committed the Everett hockey fan, it’s bandwagon time.
Just eight hours after the Everett Silvertips began selling tickets for this weekend’s two home playoff hockey games, half the seats in the arena already are taken. The center holds about 8,500.
"It’s been unbelievably crazy today," said Zoran Rajcic, the Silvertips’ director of sales and marketing. "With a couple more days, there’s no reason we won’t sell out these weekend games."
If the games sell out, that would make nine such games for the Silvertips this season. Attendance was 203,893; the team averaged about 5,664 spectators per game.
About 200 people were lined up at the Everett Events Center ticket window hours before tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Monday.
Rajcic said 4,000 tickets are gone for the Friday and Saturday night games against the Spokane Chiefs. In this, the first round of the playoffs, the Silvertips will face off against the Chiefs for a best of seven series.
The teams are evenly matched — they split eight games this season with each team going 3-1 on the road. However, the Silvertips won the league title, while the Chiefs placed fourth.
The first two games will be in Everett; the next two will be in Spokane. If more games are necessary, games five and seven would be in Everett with game six in Spokane.
Season ticket holders got first crack, with 80 percent of them choosing to renew their seats for the playoffs, Rajcic said.
The Silvertips also have to reserve 200 tickets for Spokane Chiefs fans to buy. If those seats don’t sell out, it’s likely the remainder will be opened up to Silvertips fans Friday.
Ticket prices range from $10-$26.
"There’s still plenty of good seats, but I’m sure we’ll probably sell out. It’s gone really well," Rajcic said.
In a news release Monday the Silvertips asked that all fans wear white t-shirts, sweatshirts or a home Silvertips jersey to every home playoff game to create a Silvertips "sea of white."
The hockey team also suggests fans bring a white towel or flag to wave around during playoff games.
"It’s bandwagon time for people," Rajcic said. "They want to get on board and see this thing through. It’s the nuance of seeing what’s going to happen next."
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
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