Jason Spezza (L) of the Ottawa Senators and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks unveil their respective classic jerseys on November 28, 2013, in Ottawa, Ont. The Senators will wear their classic jersey during the NHL Heritage Classic game that will be played at BC Place in Vancouver on March 2, 2014. ( / Ottawa Citizen Photograph by: Jana Chytilova , Postmedia News

VANCOUVER — It is four down and two to go for the National Hockey League and its outdoor games.

After two sold-out shows this week at Yankee Stadium, another last week at Dodger Stadium and the New Year’s Day game that drew more than 105,000 fans to the University of Michigan Stadium, the remaining games in Chicago and Vancouver clearly have tough acts to follow.

The March 1 game at Soldier Field in Chicago between the Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins sold out in less than 24 hours when tickets went on sale in December. As for Vancouver’s Heritage Classic game between the Canucks and Ottawa Senators at B.C. Place Stadium on March 2, well, it remains a work in progress.

Plenty of tickets remain for the game and the NHL will likely now ramp up marketing for the event, which is clearly proving to be a more difficult sell than the league imagined.

Vancouver-area ticket brokers say the game has been a tough sell.

“Every once in a while there is going to be a dud and this is it,” says Kingsley Bailey, manager of Vancouver Ticket. “I have more people that want to sell tickets to me than want to buy.”

Bailey thinks the Heritage Classic has a number of factors working against it, including the fact that it is not an outdoor game in the truest sense. If it happens to rain on game day, it could in fact be an indoor game with the roof closed at B.C. Place.

Bailey also says the fact the Canucks and Senators don’t really have any kind of rivalry is hurting ticket sales.

“This is definitely a dud and I know the NHL is not going to make it look like that,” he said. “They’ll paper the building.”

The NHL did not make anyone available for an interview Thursday to discuss the Heritage Classic.

There are six ticket categories for the game, which range from $104.20 to $324.70, including all fees. When tickets went on sale in early December, the top and lower price categories sold out quickly. Currently, the top two price categories (the $320.70 and $219.70 tickets) and the cheapest ones ($104.20) are sold out. But tickets in the remaining three categories ($146.20, $156.70 and $188.20) remain.

Mario Livich, the head of ShowTime Tickets, said most of his company’s demand for Heritage Classic tickets has come from out of town.

“We are seeing demand from people who are coming in from out of town, but in terms of the local market it’s been pretty slow selling and part of it is due to the prices,” Livich said. “It is not a cheap ticket by any means.”

StubHub, the online ticket exchange marketplace owned by eBay, had more than 2,000 Heritage Classic tickets available for sale Thursday on its website.

Capacity for the game at B.C. Place is about 54,500.

The fact the Canucks are struggling certainly isn’t helping to drive ticket sale to the game.

The NHL had to cut ticket prices to some of its higher-end seats to sell out the game at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 25. It also announced some big-name entertainment -- most notably the rock group KISS -- to drive ticket sales.

The NHL has yet to announce any of its entertainment plans for the Heritage Classic.

Commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement after Wednesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium between the Rangers and Islanders.

“When you think about the fact that we’ve played three outdoor games in five days to over 150,000 people, then throw in the Winter Classic and another 100,000 people. it’s been an incredible month of special events. . .we play our season a little longer, then it’s a break to go to the Olympics, and we’ll be back with two more outdoor games -- one in Chicago and one in Vancouver. This is a special season that I think we’ll all remember because it’s been very, very special.”

It will be up to the Heritage Classic to provide a special ending.

bziemer@vancouversun.com

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