Toronto Maple Leafs giving hundreds of free tickets away and here's how to get them
MLSE CEO Keith Pelley was pretty clear about one thing today in his press conference: he knows that Toronto Maple Leafs fans aren’t exactly thrilled with the state of the team.
While no team in the NHL has had a longer playoff streak than the Leafs, with nine consecutive years in the postseason, the team has won just two rounds in that timeframe.
“Making the playoffs and winning rounds is not our aspirational goal. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup,” Pelley told the media today. “We have to be on the pathway to win the Stanley Cup. I think the city has told us that; the media has told us that. We haven’t won since 1967.”
The nature of the press conference was to address the departure of longtime Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, who saw his contract expire at the end of the season and was not renewed. While Shanahan could have returned to the Leafs after 11 seasons with the team, Pelley confirmed that he had the backing of ownership to move on from Shanahan.
“My plan right now is to not replace Brendan, and Brad [Treliving] will be our GM. Whether he takes on a larger role is something that will be determined down the road.”
But simply having a change in the team’s front office doesn’t necessarily mean fans will be happy with the state of the team.
One thing thatĀ does always work in getting fan support back is a way to get inside of Scotiabank Arena for free, with the Leafs being notorious for having some of the highest ticket prices in all of pro sports.
“There will be in the neighborhood of 150 tickets next year that will be given away on a on a game-to-game basis,” Pelley announced in the press conference as part of the team’s MLSE Fan Access program, which is recently-launched program free for anyone to sign up for using their name and email address.
Over the course of the 41-game regular season, that’s over 6,000 tickets the team will be giving away for free.
The program was used throughout this year’s playoffs primarily to help distribute tailgate passes for Maple Leaf Square outside of the Arena, but is also being expanded to include game tickets.
While MLSE Fan Access is currently only available for the Leafs right now (and you’ll have to be on the waitlist to join), a note on the website states that MLSE’s other teams (including the Argonauts, Raptors, and Toronto FC) are expected to be added at points later this year.
Though the Leafs won’t have any games to play until this fall, it’s at least something to look forward to after another disappointing season.