Practice makes for a perfect run at tickets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2011 (5433 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT was not long after noon Saturday — 12:11, to be exact — when Chuck Duboff let out a celebratory roar he figures might have shaken the very foundation of his downtown Winnipeg condominium.

Duboff was one of the roughly 6,000 hockey fans who managed to score NHL tickets Saturday afternoon after they went on sale to the general public.

And while many cursed their computers in the mere minutes after the 13,000 mark was reached — and capped — Duboff and his friends were among those jumping up and down like schoolkids on Christmas morning.

“(Saturday) morning I couldn’t even read the story in the Free Press about ticket sales,” said Duboff, still beaming early Saturday evening.

“I went for a two-hour walk, I tutored a student for an hour and then from 11:30 to 12 I just paced. And then I didn’t hear anything at 12:03… 12:04… 12:05 and I thought, ‘Oh s

, he didn’t get in.’

“And then I got an email at 12:11 with giant letter saying, ‘CONGRATULATIONS! WE DID IT!’ and I let out a scream I’m sure was heard right across the city.”

Duboff had relied on his friend Geoff Brookes (they first began exchanging messages on the jetsowner.com website) to score a half-season ticket package for a group of eight people — including one from Cochrane, Alta., who will come to Winnipeg for games.

Brookes spent most of Friday familiarizing himself with the Drive to 13,000 website.

“Geoff practised all day yesterday. That’s all he did,” said Duboff. “He got on the site, practised going through all the steps that take you through the order form. And when 12 o’clock hit today he recognized all the pages and — click, click, click, click, click — and he was forwarded to the page that said the order was there. All week long I’ve been buying him beers and I bought him dinner (Friday) night because I knew he was going to do it.

“He came over here (Saturday) afternoon to celebrate with his dad, his brother and his son… I can’t thank him enough. I’m blown away.”

Duboff spent the rest of his Saturday receiving congratulatory notes as if he had won the lottery. In effect, he and his seven friends hit the hockey jackpot.

“I taught in Cancun last year and whenever I mentioned Winnipeg the reaction I always got was, ‘Oh, the Jets,’ ” said Duboff.

“Now I’m getting all sorts of congratulations on Facebook from Mexico,” said Duboff.

“I was there at Portage and Main with my ex-wife in 1972 when we signed Bobby Hull and I had season tickets all the way through. And when they left — and my ex-wife might read this — it was almost as painful emotionally as going through a divorce. I wouldn’t let myself believe until about three or four months ago that this could actually happen.

“When the Jets left in 1996, I never thought I’d see this day again. I was there the other night when everybody first met at Portage and Main wearing a Jets shirt.

“What was great for me was watching all those young kids there. I had a chance to watch the NHL and the Jets and if I never saw it again I could say at least I had the chance to watch. These kids never had that chance. Now they do. Now they have a team (to) be excited about.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca