Ticketmaster Operator Baffled by "NHL Ticket Request"

By: Hernia Staff

An exclusive look at what appears to be a seating chart for the NHL's Hurricanes.

A typical afternoon at the Ticketmaster offices turned strange on Tuesday when customer service rep Shanice Caldwell's 530th caller of the hour inquired about a possible Columbus Blue Jackets - Carolina Hurricanes ticket purchase.

"I had no idea what that fool was talking about," Caldwell said. "NHL? I ain't heard of no NHL.  I had to get my manager."

Caldwell's manager, Rick Sprinkwell, thought the ticket request was some sort of grade school prank.  "I'm actually really embarrassed about this whole thing," Sprinkwell said.  "When Shanice told me the situation, I'm pretty sure I picked up the phone and called the kid 'a little punk' and said that he'd have to 'get up pretty early in the morning to fool The Sprinkler.' But apparently, there actually are NHL teams in both Columbus and Carolina. I mean Carolina! Get out of here!"

Awkward to say the least, 13-year old caller Jimmy Sands was able to purchase the single ticket forty-five minutes later after Caldwell was able to dig into company archives and locate the Hurricanes seating chart.  Further complicating matters, an agreed upon price had to be negotiated between the two since there was no formal pricing for NHL tickets.

"I thought I had him at $10 but he was able to wiggle me down to $8," laughed Caldwell. "Hell, they should be giving those things away for free the way they're selling."

Not only was little Jimmy Sands able to get the ticket for $8, but he's going on the Blue Jackets' special "Sit In the Middle of the Rink for the Entire Game" night, replacing the previously unsuccessful "Season Ticket Giveaway" night.

When contacted about the news, spunky league commissioner Gary Bettman said he was 'pleased' with the 'small spike' in ticket sales and hopes the news will attract at least ten more new customers.

Notes: A similar problem happened two years ago to another Ticketmaster employee when a man tried to buy a Kansas City Wiz - Dallas Burn ticket for, get this, an organized soccer league known as 'the MLS'.

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