Nathan MacKinnon on fans returning: “I’m just wondering what took so long?”

Tomorrow night at Ball Arena, I’ll be way back up in the rafters, watching games from the press box. Fans will be in seats below. While I will miss having had a great vantage point to watch games this season, I’m happy to make this trade. Us media will be put in our rightful place again. Nathan MacKinnon also is happy about this change, but had a question when asked about fans coming back, on Zoom today:

“I’m just wondering what took so long,” MacKinnon said. “We were one of the last teams to get them. It’s crazy. You see highlights on the network and there’s four or five thousand fans in the stands. So all of us were pretty jealous. But it’s going to be really cool. It’s exciting. We don’t have many home games left this season, but the ones we do have and into the playoffs, it’s going to be fun.”

We’ve been through some of the why’s and wherefore’s of the local health guidelines/restrictions about fans being allowed back inside Ball Arena.

The Avalanche will be playing a makeup game against the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena tomorrow, and for this game the only fans allowed in will be invited health care workers, first responders and friends and family of players/staff. Starting with Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, 4,050 paying customers will be allowed in. I haven’t written much about ticket procedures, partially because I always get something wrong on things like that, but I did get this statement from KSE’s Declan Bolger about tickets:

“With very limited seats and remaining games in the 20-21 Avalanche & Nuggets seasons, our goal is to give to our season ticket members, plan holders and partners the opportunity to attend at least one game during the 2020-21 Avalanche and/or Nuggets regular-season games at Ball Arena.  We will be providing a limited number of tickets in a series of presales, with the most tenured season ticket holders getting first access.  Once we’ve given all of our plan holders the opportunity to attend a game, we offer a second presale that will allow our members to purchase additional games.  We’ve held back a limited number of seats specifically for the general public. As shared in the 3/18 release we have made tickets available for front line workers who have provided an opportunity to submit their requests for tickets via ColoradoAvalanche.com and Nuggets.com.”

NOTEBOOK: Avs coach Jared Bednar said Bo Byram (upper body) skated today and, while he won’t play tomorrow, the weekend could be a possibility. … Bednar said he will start backup goalie Jonas Johansson in a game “soon”, but hadn’t decided which one yet. …