World Junior 2015: Fans looking for golden ticket will have to pay small fortune

Monday night's gold medal game between Canada and Russia has all the makings of another world junior classic. And, as a result, people are looking to cash in on the hype.

The final game of the 2015 world junior championship in Toronto has become a hot ticket as Canada looks to claim gold for the first time since 2009. Fans are also eager to witness their two-year medal drought end, so they're willing to pay for prime seats.

Outside the Air Canada Centre on Monday afternoon after Benoit Groulx had announced Zach Fucale would start for the Canadian side, scalpers were already out looking for buyers.

How much are tickets going for?

"From $500 to $1,000," said one scalper.

For one ticket? Or a pair?

He laughed. "One ticket."

Prices weren't much better on secondary ticket sites like StubHub. Early Monday afternoon, for the gold medal game, tickets on the site ranged from $318 for a standing room only (no alcohol section) ticket to $1,900 for a lower bowl seat - Row 10 - in the corner behind the net.

For the bronze medal game between Sweden and Slovakia, a centre balcony seat in section 319 is selling on the same site for $8.90. Based on his performance on Sunday night against Canada, Slovakian goaltender Denuis Godla alone is more than worth that price of admission.

Hockey Canada  and the organizing committee have come under fire for the expensive ticket packages in both Toronto and Montreal. At the Bell Centre games were not even close to being sold out - even for Canada's games - with many fans saying they didn't want to be gouged. For the round robin in Montreal,  tickets ranged from $66 to $261.That prompted International Ice Hockey Federation head honcho Rene Fasel to take a shot at Canada's price points.

“I was really surprised,” Fasel said, of ticket costs. “If you would have done this pricing in Europe, you would have nobody in the arena.”

Canada is hosting the tournament again in 2017 with another split city venture between Toronto and Montreal. There is talk, however, of moving the Montreal portion of the 2017 tournament solely to Toronto based on the disappointing attendance.

“Everything will be evaluated in the next few months,” Fasel told reporters. “There will be discussions with Hockey Canada and the organizing committees.”

If fan are willing to break the bank for gold medal tickets in Toronto, don't be surprised if Hockey Canada tries to cash in again in 2017.