NHL Attendance Up 2.1%; Blackhawks Filling United Center To 104.9% Capacity

NHL teams are averaging 17,322 fans per game through yesterday, up 2.1% from the same period a year ago. The Blackhawks lead all teams with 21,506 fans per game, up 1% over last year. They are filling United Center to 104.9% capacity. Despite the worst record in the league, the Blue Jackets are seeing the biggest percentage increase in home attendance among Western Conference clubs (+7.8%). The Predators and Coyotes are seeing around 4% bumps in home attendance. The Stars are the only NHL club seeing a double-digit percentage drop in attendance (-12.5%). Listed below is team-by-team attendance for the NHL Western Conference through Jan. 17, with comparisons to the same period last year. See tomorrow's issue for Eastern Conference figures (THE DAILY).

NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE THROUGH JAN. 17 HOME TEAM GMS TOTAL AVG. % CAP. PREV. % +/- GMS ('10-11) Blackhawks 26 559,149 21,506 104.9% 21,290 1.0% 27 Red Wings 21 421,386 20,066 100.0% 19,378 3.5% 23 Flames 21 405,069 19,289 100.0% 19,289 0.0% 20 Canucks 21 396,450 18,879 100.1% 18,860 0.1% 21 Blues 25 470,047 18,802 98.2% 19,150 -1.8% 23 Kings 26 470,515 18,097 99.9% 18,055 0.2% 24 Wild 21 369,869 17,613 97.5% 17,732 -0.7% 24 Sharks 24 421,488 17,562 100.0% 17,562 0.0% 24 Oilers 21 353,619 16,839 100.0% 16,839 0.0% 21 Predators 24 399,685 16,654 97.3% 16,000 4.1% 20 Avalanche 24 368,824 15,368 85.3% 14,949 2.8% 23 Ducks 23 340,719 14,814 86.3% 14,569 1.7% 25 Blue Jackets 23 334,685 14,552 80.2% 13,495 7.8% 23 Stars 23 301,980 13,130 70.8% 15,012 -12.5% 25 Coyotes 20 231,732 11,587 67.7% 11,140 4.0% 21 W.C. TOTALS 343 5,845,217 17,041 93.3% 16,932 0.6% 344 NHL TOTALS 680 11,778,955 17,322 94.5% 16,974 2.1% 682



NOTES: Attendance figures for the Compuware NHL Premiere series and Bridgestone Winter Classic have been replaced with the team's 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. The Jets are playing in MTS Centre this season, having relocated from Atlanta after the '10-11 season. Figures for the '10-11 NHL season include data for the Thrashers.