The National Hockey League conference semifinals are an all-or-nothing exercise for casual fans and ticket brokers alike.

The Eastern Conference has everything fans and brokers could want with four well-known teams all located within driving distance of one another. The New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia Flyers have combined to win nine Stanley Cups in 23 appearances in the Finals, with only the Capitals still waiting to hoist the Cup. The Capitals also have the best-known player left in the tournament in superstar left winger Alex Ovechkin.

Country superstar Brad Paisley has tickets to his upcoming U.S. tour that are among the onsales for the weekend ending March 26 as compiled by TicketNews.

One of the most prolific country artists of the last 15 years, Paisley has sold millions of albums and won numerous accolades. Paisley has released seven albums throughout his career, with all albums certified gold, and produced 16 number one singles on the Billboard Hot Country songs chart.

The Philadelphia Flyers will host the New York Rangers in the 2012 Winter Classic hockey game, according to a recently released letter to Flyers' season ticket holders.

Speculation had been running rampant for the past several months that Philadelphia would be the site for the fifth-annual NHL outdoor game, which is typically held on New Year's Day.

The average price of a ticket to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in the hours before the Boston Bruins and host Vancouver Canucks faced off Wednesday, June 15 was, by far, the highest in the history of StubHub.com.

The Sports Business Journal reported earlier Wednesday that ducats were going for $2,749 per seat, which was not only more than three times as high as the average price to last year's Game 7 of the Cup Finals between the host Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins ($746) but also higher than the average ticket price for many recent Super Bowls.

An NBA Finals matchup between one market known for sizzle, stars and bandwagon jumpers and another famous for being awash in oil money is good news for ticket brokers. But a bicoastal, international NHL Stanley Cup battle between similarly championship-starved cities has been even better for business.

According to figures provided by ticket search engine SeatGeek, the prices on the resale market for tickets to the Stanley Cup — pitting the Boston Bruins against the Vancouver Canucks — are far higher than those for the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks.