Do you love hockey? Do you find yourself in a financial situation that limits the number of games you can go to? This is a common scenario for many fans, and it spans across the major sports. Here are some tips for the NHL fan who wants to attend as many games as possible but on a fixed budget.

Ticketmaster/Team Website

This is often the most expensive route, as sites like ticketmaster charge their own fee and a conveinence fee on top of the ticket. Say you are buying two seats, instantly your total may increase by $10 to $20, depending what/where you are trying to go to. Only use the default ticketing option as a last resort, and be prepared to shell out extra dough for fees.

StubHub/2nd Party Sites

Usually this is a pretty reliable option. StubHub and other sites usually charge a fee as well and delivery may set you back a few dollars. Some sites charge a few bucks for the tickets to be e-mailed to you, which frankly makes no sense. However, despite these additional charges, the price is usually lower overall due to the tickets themselves being priced lower. Check it out yourself, look up two seats on the default site and then compare it over on StubHub or one of the other similar ticket sites. You'll likely find a distinct difference. StubHub does carry an edge in the fact they may the whole experience extremely user friendly, and will e-mail you the tickets as opposed to the Craigslist route where you may have to wait at will-call or meet up with the person prior to the contest.

Craigslist

Did you think Craigslist was just good for jobs, finding random junk, and being solicited by countless make money now scams? Guess again. One of the most affordable routes you can go in your hunt for cheap tickets is through craigslist. Here it is all about patience. Say there is a game a couple weeks from now you'd like to see. Search it on Craigslist, as well as at the other ticketing sites previously mentioned, and get an idea of what the seats might set you back. Almost immediately you can find season ticket holders selling their tickets for face value (no fees), which is an improvement over the default routes that offer ridiculous fees.

The trick to buying seats on Craigslist is waiting. Wait until the day before or even the day of to buy your seats. Of course, you can't be extremely picky on where you sit for it really is a luck of the draw, but you can be assured of saving a great deal of hard earned money. Frequently, if you search the day prior and the day of you will see seats sold well below face value. $35 seats going for $25, $25 seats going for $17, and etc. For those on a budget, Criagslist should be the first place you look as the deals are wide and abundant.

Promotions

Keep an eye out for any ticket promotions the team might run. The NHL is extremely active in social media, and teams now can be found all over Facebook and Twitter. Often, discount codes will be "tweeted" through the team or mascot's twitter, alerting followers that if they enter a certain code, they will receive X amount of dollars off their ticket. Also, teams run contests through these social media outlets, with the prize usually being free seats at an upcoming game.

So there you have it. A few tips to secure cheaper tickets for a future hockey game. Why spend more money when you just don't have to?