Bruins Continue to Offer Discounted Tickets for College Students

BOSTON-(Nov. 14, 2008)—Bruins’ fans Dan Reggiannini (left) and Matt Young (right) enjoy the B’s game versus the Montreal Canadiens in the discounted student section at TD Banknorth Garden on Thursday night.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

The Boston Bruins are working extra hard this season to win games and also to win over young fans by offering low priced student tickets on weeknights and granting media access to college papers.

Students can catch games between Monday and Thursday nights for as low as 23 dollars which is about half the price of a ticket in a regular section. Thirteen rows in sections 320 and 321 of TD Banknorth Garden are allotted for students to purchase.

Students in section 320 at the Montreal Canadiens game last Thursday gave the promotion a thumbs up.

“Absolutely it’s a great idea,” said Dan Reggiannini, a senior at Lasell College in Newton about the deal.

Reggiannini said he buys the discount tickets for at least 10 Bruins games a year along with his friend Matt Young. The pair said they’ve been going since they started college in 2006 when the promotion began.

The seats situated in the upper section to the side of a goal net aren’t too bad either and the opposing teams that come to town usually make for a good match according to the students.

“The corner angle is good because you can see the whole ice and play of the game,” said Reggiannini.

“This is what you want,” said Young about the type of teams the Bruins face on student nights.

“It’s Montreal and these are good seats for 20 bucks,” he said.
According to Matthew Chmura, the Bruins director of communications, one of Boston’s greatest attributes is “the students that are here.”

Another way the Bruins are trying to win over the college crowd is by granting aspiring sports reporters media access to the team.

Recognizing how influential student newspapers can be, Chmura said in a telephone interview, “it’s another way for us to make sure we get our message out about our games and how entertaining they can be.”

Once a hopeful journalist himself as a college student at Holy Cross, Chmura said, “It’s almost an obligation for the Bruins to give the students access. It can only help those people who have aspirations in the field and we’re hopeful that they’ll take part.”

Korin Hasegawa-John, the Inside NHL writer for the Tufts Daily, the university’s student paper, said he’s been given access to the press box, the locker rooms, and the post game press conferences at the Bruins games this season.

“For anyone considering a career in the print journalism field, the chance to talk to pro athletes without the additional pressure of being a professional reporter is a great developmental step,” said Hasegawa-John in an email.