The Lightning are seeing an 11.5% increase in home attendance at St. Pete Times Forum this season, the first full season under the new regime of Owner Jeff Vinik, CEO & Minority Owner Tod Leiweke and GM Steve Yzerman. The Penguins are also seeing gains during their first season at Consol Energy Center, up 6.8% from last season at Mellon Arena. Despite being on the outside of the playoff picture right now, the Hurricanes are seeing an 8.6% jump at RBC Center in Raleigh. The Islanders continue to see the sharpest drop of any team in the league, down 17.1% at Nassau Coliseum. Listed below is team-by-team attendance for NHL Eastern Conference teams through March 16, with comparisons to the same period last year. See yesterday's issue for Western Conference figures (THE DAILY).
NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE THROUGH MARCH 16 |
HOME TEAM |
GMS |
TOTAL |
AVG. |
% CAP. |
PREV. |
% +/- |
GMS ('09-10) |
Canadiens |
36 |
765,828 |
21,273 |
100.0% |
21,273 |
0.0% |
35 |
Flyers |
35 |
689,030 |
19,687 |
100.8% |
19,503 |
0.9% |
35 |
| Maple Leafs |
37 |
715,342 |
19,334 |
102.7% |
19,260 |
0.4% |
33 |
| Sabres |
34 |
625,738 |
18,404 |
98.5% |
18,507 |
-0.6% |
36 |
| Capitals |
37 |
680,717 |
18,398 |
100.0% |
18,277 |
0.7% |
34 |
| Senators |
35 |
641,176 |
18,319 |
95.6% |
18,149 |
0.9% |
37 |
| Penguins |
36 |
656,172 |
18,227 |
100.8% |
17,072 |
6.8% |
34 |
| Rangers |
35 |
633,232 |
18,092 |
99.4% |
18,063 |
0.2% |
37 |
| Bruins |
33 |
579,645 |
17,565 |
100.0% |
17,351 |
1.2% |
33 |
| Lightning |
36 |
616,770 |
17,133 |
86.7% |
15,364 |
11.5% |
34 |
| Hurricanes |
34 |
551,304 |
16,215 |
86.8% |
14,929 |
8.6% |
35 |
| Panthers |
36 |
557,423 |
15,484 |
90.9% |
15,307 |
1.2% |
33 |
| Devils |
35 |
504,844 |
14,424 |
81.8% |
15,163 |
-4.9% |
33 |
| Tharshers |
36 |
472,362 |
13,121 |
70.8% |
13,398 |
-2.1% |
34 |
| Islanders |
36 |
377,374 |
10,483 |
64.6% |
12,652 |
-17.1% |
35 |
| E.C. TOTALS |
531 |
9,066,957 |
17,075 |
92.2% |
16,973 |
0.6% |
518 |
| NHL TOTALS |
1,054 |
17,958,931 |
17,039 |
92.7% |
16,986 |
0.3% |
1,038 |
NOTES: Attendance figures for the NHL European Premiere series games, which included home games for the Wild, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Bruins, Sharks and Coyotes, have been replaced with the respective teams' home capacity. All NHL attendance data is based on totals posted immediately following games. Figures do not reflect any subsequent adjustments made by teams or the league.
