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Aces Have Less Than 100 Tickets Left For Saturday Game

October 29, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Aces have announced that less than 100 tickets remain for Saturday's game against San Diego, and that more than 4,200 tickets have been sold for Sunday's game against San Diego. The Aces, who are the only professional team in the state of Alaska, play in Sullivan Arena with a capacity of 6,251.

The Aces home opener against San Diego on Friday was sold out on Tuesday as more than 3,000 tickets were purchased in 24 hours following the announcement on Monday that two-time Stanley Cup winner and 2000 NHL Rookie of the Year Scott Gomez, who is an Anchorage native, had signed with the team.

Alaska had four sellouts during the regular season in 2003-04, its first as a member of the ECHL, and sold out two of its three games in the Kelly Cup Playoffs to rank second in average postseason attendance with 5,768. The Aces' largest regular-season ECHL crowd is 6,386 on February 7 against Las Vegas while their largest ECHL crowd is 6,451 on April 9 against San Diego.

The Aces have not had back-to-back sellouts since 1999 against Fresno, drawing 6,418 on March 15 and 6,423 on March 16. The last time Alaska had three consecutive sellouts was also in 1999, drawing 6,413 on January 2 against Fresno, 6,413 on January 8 against Tacoma and 6,423 on January 9 against Tacoma. Alaska played eight seasons in the West Coast Hockey League from 1995-2003.

The Gulls won the ECHL regular season title in 2003-04, but were swept in the 2004 Kelly Cup Playoff Pacific Division Semifinals by Alaska. Alaska enters the weekend 0-2-0 after dropping back-to-back games on the road against defending Kelly Cup Champion Idaho. San Diego is 1-1-0, losing 3-0 at Long Beach and winning 7-2 at home against Fresno. San Diego drew 11,922 for its home opener on October 23, the largest crowd in the Gulls ECHL history and the seventh-largest crowd in team history.

Selected in the first round (27th overall) by the New Jersey Devils in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the 24-year-old Gomez has a one-year contract with the Devils and would return to New Jersey if the NHL lockout ends. In 2003-04, Gomez finished tied for the NHL lead with 56 assists while scoring 70 points and finishing with a career-best plus-minus rating of +18.




ECHL Stories from October 29, 2004


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