LEWISTON – Barely through the turnstiles just inside the front doors of the Colisee, Adam Meservier took off toward the merchandise counter. His parents, Normand and Lisa were hot at his heels.
A few moments and a few dollars later, the Meserviers meandered to the soda counter. By this point, the first people through the door Friday night had been joined by many more Maineiacs fans, and the front lobby was awash in blue, orange and black.
“I love hockey,” said Adam, 12.
It was that simple for him.
“It’s his father’s favorite sport,” Normand chimed in. “I think he’s following suit.”
Friday night was the Maineiacs’ home opener, and for fans like the Meserviers, it couldn’t have arrived more quickly.
“It’s been a long summer,” said Lisa. “We’re ready to get going, though. It’s time for hockey.”
The Meserviers are part of a large contingent of Maineiacs fans that have yet to buy season tickets. They say that will come “someday,” but for now, they are content to pick and choose certain games.
“We come to as many as we can, but we’ve been to all three openers,” said Normand.
“Season tickets have been a tough sell so far this season, with 1,750 sold to date. Last year at this time, the number was around 1,650, and two years ago it hovered under 1,000,
“At least they’re headed in the right direction,” said Maineiacs governor and vice president Matt McKnight. “Right now, we’re not far off the 2,000 that we’d hoped for. The thing is, too, is that we are selling season tickets through the end of October on a pro-rated basis, and full flex packs throughout the season, so we don’t have a final number, and won’t until much later in the season.”
The spike from the first year to the second, according to McKnight, resulted from the conversion of many walk-up ticket buyers into season ticket holders and corporate ticket holders.
“We flip-flopped the numbers,” said McKnight. “Now, we have to make a push to the fans that are coming two, three and four times, to tray and get them here five, six, seven or eight times.”
One season ticket holder might even have trumped the Meserviers with his passion. A Maineiacs season ticket holder since day one, Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett gave away ducats to Friday night’s Boston Red Sox playoff game to make the home opener.
“I actually had (Red Sox) tickets in my hand,” said Bennett. “Look where I am, though. “Hockey was never my favorite sport growing up, but we’ve certainly grown to be big fans.”
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