Waiting On Winnipeg Jets Tickets

Winnipeg Jets hockey fans that were not one of the luck 13,000 people who were able to secure season tickets, are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to buy individual game tickets.

The Jets have yet to announce when individual game tickets will go on sale, but you can be sure that hockey fans in Manitoba will be locked onto their computer screens, madly trying to purchase tickets as soon as they are available.

With the MTS Centre in Winnipeg only holding around 15,000, there is estimated to be roughly 2,000 seats available for each game.  When you factor in Mark Chipman’s recent statement that they had 248,000 people attempting to buy season tickets, we can conclude that there will still be a plethora of disappointed people when the remaining seats are released for sale.

Many fans are upset, and rightly so, that some ticket resellers were able to obtain tickets and sell them for a premium on the secondary market. That said, this is nothing new to hockey fans in Montreal, Toronto, or other markets where NHL tickets are a hot item.

While we may not all agree that the secondary market for ticket sale is a good thing. It does give some people the opportunity to purchase tickets for games and seats that they really desire, without having to buy season tickets.

That said, individual Winnipeg Jets ticket prices have been coming down as the season gets closer. In addition, more and more tickets are available as time goes on and the season ticket holders make the decisions on what games they can and cannot attend.

The basic economics of supply and demand, coupled with True North’s strategy of having season ticket holders commit to 3-5 year terms up front, dictate that we could see a strong secondary market for Jets tickets for some time. No other city asks season ticket holders to make long-term commitments like that, and Winnipegger’s took the bait… hook, line and sinker!

Who WIll Lead The Winnipeg Jets in Scoring?

With all of the excitement surrounding the return of the Winnipeg Jets, let’s see who fans think will lead the Jets in scoring next season?

Who will be the new Winnipeg Jets version of Dale Hawerchuk or Teemu Selanne?

EA Sports and the Winnipeg Jets New Jersey

Following the announcement that the video game NHL 12 from EA Sports will be released on September 13, 2011, several screen captures and video previews of the game have been floating around the internet.

Some of these screen captures, like the one below, depict the Winnipeg Jets wearing a jersey that includes the new Jets logo. However, it also shows a jersey that includes Red in the color scheme. Mark Chipman specifically said on Fan 590 radio that there would be no Red on the uniform, other than the Maple Leaf in the logo.

The Jets made an official statement of denial with respect to an image of a set of concept jerseys that surfaced over the weekend. With fans snapping up apparel seemingly as fast as stores can stock it, there is no doubt that the demand for the new Jets jersey is huge. Excessive demand and anticipation throughout the fanbase is apparent and they are understandably anxious to get a glimpse of the real thing.

Per previous reports, the unveiling of the new jerseys is not officially expected until September. With that, Director of Communications, Scott Brown, said it best in the Winnipeg Free Press:

“I suppose we’re in for a good month of this”

While there is yet to be an official statement confirming that these EA Sports NHL 12 Jerseys are not the new Winnnipeg Jets jerseys, this would not be the first time that EA Sports was associated with a jersey “leak”.

Prior to the release of the RBK Edge jerseys for the NHL’s 2007-08 season, EA Sports reported that the new RBK Edge jerseys for all 30 NHL teams would be included in the NHL 08 video game. A ‘code’ was posted on the RBK Hockey website and could be entered in the “Rbk Edge” tab under the “My NHL 08” menu to unlock the new jerseys.

If these are the new Jets jerseys, what do you think?

Image via Twitter: JBird

Winnipeg Jets Merchandise Selling Out

Since the recent release of the new Winnipeg Jets Logo, merchandise for the NHL team has been flying off shelves in Winnipeg.

It was expected that all merchandise at the official Winnipeg Jets store, Jets Gear, located at Portage Ave. and Hargrave would be sold out by the end of the weekend.

Merchandise that was on hand at other local Winnipeg retailers such as River City Sports was also reported to be sold out – or very nearly sold out.

Since the official announcement of the team name at the NHL draft last month, Winnipeg Hockey fans have been thirsting for the new logo, merchandise and the new jersey.

The new Winnipeg Jets Jersey, however, is not expected to be released until late August or September.  Following the release of the official new logo, many fans have posted mock-up concepts of what they believe the jersey will look like online.

The following is one of the favorite concepts I have seen thus far:

What do you think of this concept Winnipeg Jets jersey?