College hockey gets two shots on Fenway ice
The NHL will keep its ice sheet spread across Fenway Park’s lawn for at least an extra week in January, in part to accommodate a Hockey East men’s-women’s doubleheader Friday, Jan. 8, that will be priced dramatically lower than the featured Jan. 1 game between the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.
The men’s game, pitting decades-old rivals Boston University and Boston College, will be the later game of the NCAA twin bill, with organizers yesterday still uncertain of the start times. The women will kick off the doubleheader with Northeastern facing New Hampshire, expected to start late in the afternoon or early evening.
The official news conference, bringing together parties from Hockey East, the Red Sox, and the Fenway Sports Group, will be held next Thursday at 11 a.m. at Fenway.
According to a source familiar with the talks among the event planners, tickets for the Jan. 8 festivities will be good for both college games and those out in the elements will not exceed $99 each - with many considerably less. It’s possible, said the source, that tickets in Fenway’s enclosed suites will sell for more than $99 each.
The NHL has yet to announce ticket pricing for the highly popular Jan. 1 game, which sold out the last two years in Orchard Park, N.Y., and Chicago. Based on the pricing at those games, it’s likely that good seats at Fenway will cost an average of $250, if not more.
Provided the college games come close to selling out the some 35,000 seats at the ballpark, they should set an attendance record for each of the four schools.
