BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Bruins got back to the business of hockey on Friday as they received the 22nd pick in the 2005 NHL entry draft and announced plans to bring back fans with lower ticket prices for the upcoming season.

Though the exact parameters for the price rollbacks have yet to be established, Bruins executive vice president Charlie Jacobs said Friday that ticket prices will be lowered virtually across the board.

The Bruins also plan to offer a $10 ticket for the first time since 1987 and free admission to any child under the age of 12 from opening night through Thanksgiving.

The team is also planning more incentives to lure fans back to the newly christened TD Banknorth Garden, but did not immediately specify what they are.

The most important way to bring fans back after a lockout resulted in the loss of all of last season is to put a team good enough to challenge for the Stanley Cup on the ice, Jacobs said.

“It starts with ticket prices, but it ends with a winner,” he said.

The Bruins, which has just three players under contract, are also in the process of contacting the representatives of the team’s unrestricted free agents as it tries to construct a team for the new season.

Though the late pick meant the Bruins had no chance at Sidney Crosby, the 17-year-old Canadian juniors phenom, the news wasn’t all bad for Boston.

This year’s draft will feature a “snake” format, which means teams will select in opposite order in each successive round, meaning the Bruins will pick eighth in the second round.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the right to pick Crosby in a 48-ball lottery weighted to give teams that struggled in recent years a better chance.

The entire league will open the season on Oct. 5, commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday.

AP-ES-07-22-05 1916EDT


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