Yesterday's rescheduled Coyotes-Hurricanes afternoon
game drew a "decidedly younger crowd than usual" to the
Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena, according to Cecil
Harris of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, who writes that the
crowd may have been "attracted by a chance to watch three
hockey games for the price of one and a fervent desire to
finally get out of the house" after winter storms hit the
Raleigh area. The announced crowd of 9,675 "reflected fans
in the seats, not tickets sold." Every ticket holder was
allowed to bring another fan to the game for free and
receive a free ticket to games against the Canadiens and the
Capitals later this month (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 1/28).
Hurricanes President & GM Jim Rutherford hoped the afternoon
start and ticket promo would win over some fans: "We could
have played this game at night, but we felt it would be
better in daytime. ... There were so many families here,
which is great. This is part of the process -- getting them
here to a game." But in Raleigh, Chip Alexander writes that
there "were a few glitches" at yesterday's game, as the team
"hoped to have the parking lots shoveled Wednesday night but
had to wait until Thursday morning," the ticket windows were
"jammed" and the "limited number of open concession stands
produced some long lines" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 1/28).
SIN-DEN CITY: In Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont writes that
the Canadiens were "unable to leave snowed-in" Raleigh in
time to arrive in Boston for a scheduled 7:05pm ET game with
the Bruins last night. Senior Assistant to the GM Nate
Greenberg said, "Could they have gotten here? Probably.
But when? That was the issue" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/28). In
Boston, Joe Gordon writes that Bruins GM Harry Sinden
"expressed no sympathy" for the Canadiens, who were
"stranded" in NC since Monday: "You have to get there. In
all the years I've been here, and long before that, I can't
remember the Bruins being unable to get a game. ... The NHL
had a plan to take care of the whole thing, but Montreal had
to get to Greensboro [airport which was open] with the
equipment. The league was going to use the [MSG] plane to
pick them up in Greensboro" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/28).
