Monday, October 20, 2014

Attendance Watch 2014-15 -- AKA, Mr. Bettman's Box Office

For those that crunch the numbers on the NHL, beyond the salary caps, a free agency calculations, the bottom line for many NHL teams comes from one simple thing, bottoms in the seats.

And this year like the last few of the past, there are some locations that are giving indications that hockey just isn't winning the battle for hearts, minds and wallets.

For hopeful hockey fans in Quebec City, Hamilton, Suburban Toronto and now Seattle, watching the attendance figures becomes more important than which team is actually leading its division or closing in on a playoff spot.

Once again this year, we will track the teams that some suggest are on the bubble, secure leadership or not, financially flush as they may say they are, no one likes to lose money, so we'll scan the attendance numbers through the year, looking for those bargain basement teams that could be looking for a
relocation plan.

As last year, we shall use attendance at the 13,000 mark as our cut off for review.  Only those games that have drawn less than 13,000 or less in attendance will be listed below.

We also will list which team was in town as the visiting squad for the night, perhaps offering an explanation as to the night's recorded attendance.

Last year, as it was the year before, the Coyotes, Islanders and Blue Jackets were the featured attractions of the bottom three attendance reviews, 

And with the exception of the Islanders, who already have the moving vans warming up for a short haul to Brooklyn in the year to come,

Many of those at the bottom tier of the list of the less than faithful observers will seem rather familiar,

As well,  for some observers one more market worth keeping an eye on, is Florida. Where the sunshine state's Panthers are also in the running for team most likely to relocate.

The review can be accessed from our GM's office links on the right hand sidebar.

Attendance Figures as of March 9, 2015

Bottom Feeders (our three dim star selection)

The three teams with the lowest attendance, teams the most times below the 13,000 benchmark.

1. Florida (26)
2. Carolina  (20)
3. Arizona  (18)

Arizona Coyotes (18)

March 9 -- 11,227 ( Nashville) (Event Summary)
March 5 -- 12,589 (Vancouver) (Event Summary)
March 3 -- 11,387 (Anaheim) (Event Summary)
February 21 -- 12,997 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
February 5 -- 12,649 (Carolina) (Event Summary)
January 15-- 12,982 (Calgary) (Event Summary)
January 13-- 10,631 (San Jose) (Event Summary)
January 8-- 11,390 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)
January 6-- 10,876 (St. Louis) (Event Summary)
December 16-- 12,085 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
December 11-- 10,194 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
December 4-- 12,254 (Los Angeles) (Event Summary)
November 25--  12,163 (Colorado) (Event Summary)
November 18-- 11,789 (Washington) (Event Summary)
November 11-- 11,866 (Dallas) (Event Summary)
October 18-- 11,100 (St. Louis) (Event Summary)
October 15-- 11,648 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
October 11-- 12,859  (Los Angeles) (Event Summary)

Carolina (20)

March 8 -- 12,826 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
March 6 -- 10,857 (Minnesota) (Event Summary)
February 24 -- 11,024 (Philadelphia) (Event Summary)
February 20 -- 12,563 (Toronto) (Event Summary)
February 17 -- 12,665 (NY Islanders) (Event Summary)
February 12 -- 11,991 (Anaheim) (Event Summary)
January 27 -- 12,508 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
January 13-- 13,965 (Colorado) (Event Summary)
January 8-- 9,781 (Buffalo) (Event Summary)
January 2-- 12,682 (Philadelphia) (Event Summary)
December 18-- 12,332 (Toronto) ( Event Summary)
December 8-- 9,815 ( New Jersey ) ( Event Summary )
December 4-- 10,783 (Washington) (Event Summary)
December 2--     9,161 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
November 16-- 12,784 (San Jose) (Event Summary)
November 13-- 10,005 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)
November 10-- 9,906 (Calgary) (Event Summary)
November 7-- 11,540 (Columbus) (Event Summary)
November 2-- 10,519 (Los Angeles) (Event Summary)
November 1-- 10,879 (Arizona) (Event Summary)

Colorado Avalanche (2)

December 9-- 12,689 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
October 30-- 12,892 (NY Islanders) (Event Summary)

Columbus Blue Jackets (3)

March 3 -- 12,915 (Washington) (Event Summary)
February 26 -- 12,357 (Montreal) (Event Summary)
December 1--  12,309 (Florida) (Event Summary)


Florida Panthers (26)

March 5 -- (8,510) (Dallas) (Event Summary)
March 3 -- 10,198 (Toronto) (Event Summary)
March 1 -- 10,336 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
February 28 -- 10,374 (Buffalo) (Event Summary)
February 15 -- 11,859 (St. Louis) (Event Summary)
February 10 -- 8,576 (Anaheim) (Event Summary)
February 8 -- 10,844 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
February 5 -- 9,624 (Los Angeles) (Event Summary)
January 29 -- 7,917 (Columbus) (Event Summary)
January 27 -- 12,190 (Detroit) (Event Summary)
January 19-- 9,373 (Vancouver) (Event Summary)
January 17-- 10,529 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
January 15-- 9,584 (Colorado) (Event Summary)
December 16-- 10,012 (Washington) (Event Summary)
December 6-- 8,597 (Buffalo) ( Event Summary )
December 4-- 7,768 (Columbus) (Event Summary)
November 28--  9,758 (Ottawa) (Event Summary)
November 26--  8,119 (Carolina) (Event Summary)
November 24--  8,426 (Minnesota) (Event Summary)
November 14-- 10,010 (NY Islanders) (Event Summary)
November 11-- 8,075 (San Jose) (Event Summary)
November 8-- 9,220 (Calgary) (Event Summary)
November 1- 9,774 (Philadelphia) (Event Summary)
October 30-- 7,691 (Arizona) (Event Summary)
October 13-- 7,311 (Ottawa) (Event Summary)
October 11--11,419 (New Jersey) (Event Summary)

New Jersey Devils (4)

February 23 -- 12,159 (Arizona) (Event Summary)
February 9 -- 11,519 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
February 3 -- 11,461 (Ottawa) (Event Summary)
October 30-- 12,897 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)

New York Islanders (6)

November 24-- 12,409 (Philadelphia) (Event Summary)
November 18-- 12,908 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
November 11-- 12,888 (Colorado) (Event Summary)
October 28-- 11,508 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)
October 21-- 11,408 (Toronto) (Event Summary)
October 16-- 11,248 (San Jose) (Event Summary)

Philadelphia (1)

March 5 -- 12,531 (St. Louis) (Event Summary)

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