The Maple Leafs last week clinched their first playoff berth since '04, but fans were "left angry and frustrated on Thursday when technical problems prevented those with a special password from gaining access to a limited number of playoff tickets for sale," according to Bob Mitchell of the TORONTO STAR. Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment and Ticketmaster "apologized for the difficulties." The tickets were "supposed to go on sale" at 10:00am ET, but that time "passed without anybody gaining access." The special site "eventually was working" by 11:00am. About 750 tickets "were available for each of the two playoff games on sale." A limited number of tickets for Leafs home playoff games were "supposed to be available for people who became members of the team’s last minute club." Once registered, fans "received a password via email." But "many people didn’t know you had to go use a special link through the Last Minute Club and not through the Leafs website to gain access to purchasing playoff tickets through Ticketmaster" (TORONTO STAR, 4/26). MLSE Exec VP/Venues & Entertainment Bob Hunter said that it was "human error on Ticketmaster’s part that caused the problem." He said that it took "about 30 minutes to figure it out and then get it fixed." Hunter: “There was literally one letter missing in the website link that was sent out and that took people to the wrong site. It was a simple fix but by then we had a number of very frustrated people.” Hunter said that the Leafs have "[complete] faith in Ticketmaster and will continue to use it to distribute tickets for events" at Air Canada Centre (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/26).
