The waitlist for men’s hockey season tickets is lower than it has been in years.

There are currently fewer than 200 people on the waitlist, with a wait time of one to three years, according to the athletic ticket office.

There have been times, when over a thousand names filled the season ticket waitlist. Community members had to wait 20-25 years to finally claim their tickets, as stated by the athletic ticket office .

In recent years, UVM athletics has taken a closer look at the list and has been able to consolidate it.

Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeff Schulman attributes the shortened length of the waitlist to a few factors, he said.

“We have about 2,400 season tickets, and depending on the year, depending on the economy, depending on how our team has been doing, we may have anywhere from 50 to 150 seats not renewed,” Schulman said.

First-year Matthew De Young said he wishes there were more tickets allotted for students.

“Hockey is one of UVM’s biggest events, and student tickets sell out within an hour,” he said.

Season ticket holders have the option to renew their tickets every year, so when some choose not to, there can be a turnover. At this point, the ticket office begins to contact the individuals on the waitlist, Schulman said.

Schulman also said that a lack of “diligence” within UVM athletics may have been to blame for the excessively long wait list.

“There were many years where there was almost no turnover of season tickets, so the names accumulated on the waitlist, and frankly we weren’t very diligent about checking those names,” he said.

In recent years, however, close attention has been paid in the ticket office.

“Once we really got serious about looking at who’s on the waitlist, and whether in fact those people are still interested in season tickets, we found that a lot of people had moved out of town or were no longer interested,” he said.

With a shorter waitlist, “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel” for local UVM hockey fans, Schulman said.

Schulman, who was a four-year varsity hockey player for UVM until his graduation in 1989, said he feels that fan support is better than ever.

“If you talk to anyone in the college hockey world, they’ll tell you that the Gut is one of the most exciting and energetic environments in the country,” he said.

Schulman acknowledges UVM hockey’s role in the community.

“There are very few opportunities for our student body and community to come together in the way that they do at UVM hockey games.”