Blues Trying To Limit Blackhawks Fan Attendance Through Ticket Policies

NOTE: I do want to clarify that the game tickets for the Blackhawks games will be for sale at a later date (which measns that theyll buy them anyway, I suppose). Hopefully this encourages Blues fans to buy up the multi-game packs.

Single game tickets go on sale Saturday for the Blues, but if you're a Chicago Blackhawks fan wanting to drive in to catch a few good ol' rivalry games, you might want to rethink your plans or go buy some aftermarket tickets. Why? Four games aren't going on sale tomorrow: opening night, Oct. 9 against Chicago, Dec. 28 against the Hawks and Apr. 13, which is the Detroit Red Wings' appearance at Scottrade Center this year.

This policy is designed to keep Blackhawks and Red Wings fans out of Scottrade, or at least to make it as hard as possible to get in. It's like the policy the Nashville Predators adopted, making it impossible to just buy a ticket to a game against the Hawks without having to buy another one. The Predators' idea is awful, and so is the Blues'. Yeah, it's annoying when large groups of opposition fans show. Would you like to know why they show? Because they're in the Blues' division. The Blues and the Blackhawks are the only real rivalry in the new Central Division - and now it's going to be harder to encourage that rivalry, because the Blues are acting like petulant little brothers.

The Hawks are the Stanley Cup champs. Their fans are going to drive the five hours or so to go to their games here in St. Louis - a lot of them are. And you know what? Welcome to Scottrade. Give the team your money. Buy beer. Buy concessions. Please, do.

Can you imagine if this policy was in place during Nickle Beer Nights at the barn? Or during the early 90s hate-fest?

One of the aspects of a rivalry is that fans of the opposition annoy the hell out of you. Cardinals fans irritate Cubs fans when they flock to Wrigley, and yet they haven't tried to close the gate to us - heck, the Cardinals organization gets together road trips to see the team in Chicago . The Cardinals haven't made it impossible for Cubs fans to get tickets to games, because frankly it's not nice to kick a team when they're down. Both MLB teams have embraced the rivalry even as it's cooled thanks to Chicago's futility.

The Blues and Blackhawks could do well to take a page from their cities' baseball teams. Sure, it'd be nice if there were just a few Blackhawks fans at Scottrade instead of the masses there now, but fix that by winning, fix that by being louder than they are, and fix that by continuing on the path that this team is on. The ticket shenanigans are just unnecessary.