Attendance for Canucks games at GM Place is "scary" at
the half-way point in the season, as the team has averaged
just 14,129 through its first 21 home games, according to
Terry Bell of the Vancouver PROVINCE, who noted that the NHL
average was 16,144 at the same point. Orca Bay VP/
Communications Kevin Gass: "We're not jumping from the
windows but we are paying a lot of attention to it." Bell
wrote that fans "may be staying home" because they're
"turned off by the deadly combination of increased ticket
prices and a decreased level of performance." Orca Bay
officials say that the "soft" BC economy has also "hurt
season-ticket sales." Meanwhile, Bell reported that CTV
SportsNet has averaged 164,044 viewers for its first 16
games, with a "high" of 223,000 for the November 9 game
against the Sharks (Vancouver PROVINCE, 1/10).
NICE HONEYMOON: In Atlanta, Jeff Schultz reports that
the Thrashers have sold out eight of its first 19 games at
Philips Arena and are averaging 17,528 fans at 95% capacity,
which ranks seventh in the NHL. Team GM Don Waddell: "The
city has really embraced the hockey club. There have been
many games when you look around and can see everybody stayed
to the end, and in some cases people have given standing
ovations for the last 30 or 40 seconds. That's unheard of
in some other cities" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/11).
