The Sabres announced 16,707 tickets sold for Thursday's game against the Panthers, the second-lowest count of the season, and in Buffalo, Mike Harrington notes the "in-house crowd looked substantially smaller." It looked like the "tiniest non-snowstorm crowd in many years." The Sabres, who have the fewest points in the Eastern Conference, are "averaging 17,921 tickets sold downtown this year, which puts them 17th in the league." They are playing to 93.9% of capacity, which "puts them 24th out of 31 teams." Both figures are their "lowest" since '05-06. The guess is there "hasn't been fewer people in the building on any single night since the bankruptcy era of 2003" (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/2).
BLAST FROM THE PAST: In Raleigh, Chip Alexander notes Hartford Whalers merchandise is now "available to Hurricanes fans at the team store at PNC Arena." The team said that the "first shipment of Whalers merchandise was 125 T-shirts." Other merchandise "should soon be available." The shirts cost $34. New Hurricanes Owner Tom Dundon again said that he would "like to play a game wearing Whalers retro jerseys." Dundon: "I’d love to. We’re working on it. We’re working with the NHL. If they yes, we will. And they might" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 2/2).
DOLLARS & SENS: Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk said that the issues with low attendance figures are "primarily rooted in the 'cheap, cheap, cheap' upper sections of Canadian Tire Centre." He said that the problem "stemmed from 'previous management' having discounted too many tickets." In Ottawa, Ken Warren notes Melnyk "offered few solutions, but he promised he’s doing everything possible to improve the overall product." If the experience "improves on and off the ice, maybe then he’ll win some of the fans back" (OTTAWA SUN, 2/2).
