Lastly, bonus Q: Could any NHL team actually burn through enough of these to make it viable?
Absolutely. The teams will always come out on top in this situation. If the value of the golden ticket is priced above any face value seat, then selling 1 golden ticket will make it worth it. (neglecting cost of goods sold, but you get the point)
Assuming you can't displace people who have already bought tickets, what happens when teams that sell out every game (Canadian teams, Rangers, Blackhawks etc.) sell golden tickets?
One would have to think that golden ticket holders would get access to pre-sales right?
also, one would have to assume the golden ticket would be more expensive than any face value ticket (or very close) to avoid people profiting on resale.
There has to be value on both sides in order for this to viable. If those two assumptions are in place, then it could work.
Teams would have the value of selling a ticket above face value, and fans would have the added value of getting first pick of tickets for BIG games that would sell out in minutes.