"The best way, and at this time the demand has been great, is I would strongly encourage them to be full-season ticket holders. That's the fastest way to ensure them attending this game." - John McDonough, Chicago Blackhawks president, on Winter Classic tickets.

As soon as that quote hit the Chicago papers, Blackhawks season tickets were going to start selling faster than a half-smoke at a wiener stand. Yesterday, McDonough informed the Chicago Tribune that the team had increased its season-ticket base from "about 3,400 at the beginning of last season to more than 12,000 so far this season."

Right around the announcement for the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, USA Today reported that the Blackhawks had sold just over 10,000 season tickets for the upcoming season. So with all due respect to Scotty Bowman and the Cristobal Huet press conference, it's conceivable that Chicago moved over 2,000 new season tickets on the strength of the Classic announcement alone.

So how many of these "Recommitted to the Indian" fans are actually going to attend the Winter Classic, should they gain access to tickets? Considering one game in a baseball stadium could cover their season in a hockey arena.

Season tickets in the 300 Level of the United Center range from $1,760 to $660 for a full season. The first Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres had fans in an uproar over ticket shortages ... for a game played in a football stadium. To say the Wrigley tickets will be scarce is an understatement.

Winter Classic 2008 tickets were selling for $1,500 apiece. Again, for a football stadium. In Buffalo. How high will tickets for the friendly confines climb, especially when you have rabid Detroit Red Wings fans seeking the same limited amount of stubs?

The point here is that if you spent $1,760 on Blackhawks season tickets, and were lucky enough to snag one or two for the Winter Classic, the potential is there for the Classic to cover your Blackhawks tickets for the 2008-09 season.

Make the windfall profit, or be a part of history? Tough call ...

Meanwhile, the Tribune reports that the Blackhawks sold "sold 57,000 single-game tickets Monday, and with their increasing season-ticket base have sold more than 500,000 tickets for the upcoming season, an increase of more than 300 percent from this time last year."

Dollar Bill passes; Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brian Campbell arrive; and suddenly, Chicago's a hockey town for the first time since Jeremy Roenick left. No one could ever accuse Windy City sports fans of failing to run in front; Bears and Cubs backers excluded, of course.

Related: Hockey Fans