Ice hockey might be an overseas sport for all of us but the forthcoming global exhibition has drawn the mind of Kiwi punters, if ticket sales are any indication.

The 3 game series is between a composite Canadian team and a USA selection and will be staged in the nation’s 3 biggest indoor arenas in Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland.

The game at Vector Arena on July 23 has almost sold out, with the final batch of five hundred tickets unconfined for sale yesterday. The 4000-seat Dunedin Ice Stadium is sixty percent sold already whereas the 8900 seat CBS Arena in Christchurch is over fifty percent sold, with strong early sales stalled after some vagueness in the wake of the February quake.

The term 'exhibition' implies the razzle dazzle and propaganda of the Harlem Globetrotters, but organizers stress that most of the players are going to be drawn from the National Hockey League, with previous Stanley Cup winners.

"There is no such thing as a friendly between the USA and Canada," says International Ice Hockey Hall of Famer Kerry Goulet, who has been accountable for accumulating the 2 teams.

"We have put together a mix of established stars and up-and-coming talent to make sure the proper mix of hunger and desire."

Superstars of the sport like Sidney Crosby (who scored the winner in the final of the Winter Olympics and earns an annual salary of US$8 million) will not be making the trip; players of his ilk would cost $100,000-$200,000 in insurance costs alone.

But Goulet is satisfied with the group of players he is putting together: "We are talking millions of dollars of talent, and the best hockey players ever seen in this part of the world.

"The USA team will be captained by Aaron Miller, while the Canadian skipper is Derek Armstrong. Miller spent most of his career with the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings in a 700-game NHL career and also won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics.