The head of the Vancouver Olympics is recommending companies give their employees time off work so they can enjoy the tickets they've bought for the 2010 Olympic Games.

Canadians have flooded Vancouver Olympic organizers with a record number of requests for tickets to the Winter Games.

Olympic officials say demand for tickets exceeded supply for 120 of 170 events, and those requests will now go into lottery pools for random distribution among the applicants.

The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as all figure skating, short-track speed skating, speed skating, and men's ice hockey from the quarter-finals onward are among the sessions that will go to lottery.

The most popular event was the men's gold medal hockey game, with 140,000 tickets requested, almost 10 times the number of seats available.

More than 41,000 people also applied for tickets for the women's gold medal game and more than 84,000 are seeking tickets for the opening ceremony.

The remaining tickets will be made available in December, but only to those who bought tickets in the first round.

Finally, if any tickets remain in February, they will be sold to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.

Work from home

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Organizing Committee is also urging businesses in the Lower Mainland to allow staff to take holidays during the 2010 Olympics or to have them work from home to reduce traffic.

Vancouver Olympic CEO John Furlong told a meeting of the B.C. Business Council on Thursday that workers should be encouraged to take vacations during the Games so they can attend events.

Companies could also shift work hours or have staff work from home to cut traffic during the Games, Furlong said.

With files from the Canadian Press