NHL team attendance tracker: Who are the biggest risers and fallers?

As the calendar has flipped to December, we are starting to get a good handle on the NHL standings.

Teams like the Devils and Kraken have startled us by hanging out in the league’s penthouse, but we’re adjusting to seeing their place in the standings.

And we’re certainly not surprised by the fact that Chicago and Arizona have settled into their spots in the league’s basement.

As we hit the two-month mark of the season, it’s also the perfect time for us to analyze attendance figures from around the league. And since the last two seasons have been interrupted by COVID-19 issues, it’s been a while since we’ve done this exercise. 

At this point, we have enough of a sample size to work with since 29 teams have played at least 10 games on home ice this season. The one outlier is the Arizona Coyotes, who have only played four games at home so far this season. But considering they are playing at Mullet Arena — with a seating capacity of just 5,000 for home games — we’re not really going to learn too much about Arizona’s attendance this season.

Let’s start by simply looking at the home attendance numbers through this past weekend’s games (Sunday, December 4).

Team	Avg Attendance	PCT CAPACITY
Montreal Canadiens	21,011	98.8
Tampa Bay Lightning	19,092	99.4
Toronto Maple Leafs	18,693	99.3
Vancouver Canucks	18,584	98.3
Washington Capitals	18,573	100.4
Carolina Hurricanes	18,369	93.7
Dallas Stars	18,362	99.1
Detroit Red Wings	18,226	91.1
Vegas Golden Knights	18,027	103.0
St. Louis Blues	18,016	97.9
New York Rangers	17,877	99.3
Boston Bruins	17,850	98.8
Calgary Flames	17,788	92.2
Minnesota Wild	17,762	98.9
Colorado Avalanche	17,538	98.0
Pittsburgh Penguins	17,487	95.1
Edmonton Oilers	17,357	93.1
Nashville Predators	17,263	100.9
Seattle Kraken	17,100	100.3
Philadelphia Flyers	16,719	85.6
Los Angeles Kings	16,029	88.5
Chicago Blackhawks	15,833	77.2
Florida Panthers	15,811	82.1
Columbus Blue Jackets	15,690	87.0
New York Islanders	15,563	96.8
Ottawa Senators	15,293	82.0
Anaheim Ducks	15,122	88.1
San Jose Sharks	14,006	79.8
Winnipeg Jets	13,979	93.2
New Jersey Devils	13,859	83.9
Buffalo Sabres	13,634	71.5
Arizona Coyotes	4,600	92.0

A few things certainly jump out here.

New Jersey’s blistering start hasn’t yet translated into success at the box office at the Prudential Center. The Devils are at the top of the overall standings, but they sit 30th in average attendance so far this season.

After years of averaging more than 20,000 fans at the United Center, Chicago has fallen off a pretty steep cliff here and is now residing in the lower third of average attendance in the league. And they are one of only three teams who are playing to under 80 percent capacity so far this season, along with San Jose and Buffalo — two other teams that have experienced a sharp decline in attendance.

To try and put this into context, we want to analyze which teams have seen some of the biggest gains and declines over the past couple of seasons. However, using attendance data from the past two seasons is flawed. The 2020-21 season was largely played without any fans inside NHL arenas, with a handful of American-based teams allowing a small percentage of fans inside their venues. The 2021-22 season was also compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic north of the border, as several Canadian teams were forced to play in front of no fans or limited capacity for a portion of the season.

So if we want to make a true ‘apples-to-apples’ attendance comparison, we need to trace the line back to the 2019-20 NHL season. That campaign was halted in the middle of March due to the COVID-19 virus, but teams played the majority of their home schedule up until that point. So comparing those numbers directly against what we’ve seen in the first two months of this NHL season should provide us with a reasonable measuring stick.

Here is the list of NHL teams that have seen the biggest gains and losses compared to 2019-20 — with two small caveats. The Coyotes are not listed here, since they are now playing at Mullett Arena and have watched their average attendance plummet due to the tiny venue size. Arizona was averaging 14,606 fans in 2019-20, but has watched that number reduce by 10,000 fans per game this season.

And we’re also not including the Seattle Kraken in this table below, since the expansion franchise did not exist in 2019-20.

Attendance gains/losses vs. 2019-20

Team	2019-20 Attendance	Change
New York Islanders	12,811	+3,752
Ottawa Senators	12,618	+2,675
Florida Panthers	14,105	+1,706
Carolina Hurricanes	16,795	+1,574
New York Rangers	17,207	+643
Minnesota Wild	17,467	+295
Boston Bruins	17,681	+169
Tampa Bay Lightning	18,923	+169
Washington Capitals	18,573	0
Montreal Canadiens	21.085	-74
St. Louis Blues	18,096	-80
Vancouver Canucks	18,680	-96
Nashville Predators	17,407	-144
Edmonton Oilers	17,510	-153
Vegas Golden Knights	18,311	-284
Detroit Red Wings	18,717	-491
Toronto Maple Leafs	19,302	-609
Anaheim Ducks	15,847	-725
Los Angeles Kings	16,916	-887
Calgary Flames	18,751	-963
New Jersey Devils	14,899	-1,040
Pittsburgh Penguins	18,538	-1,051
Colorado Avalanche	18,708	-1,170
Columbus Blue Jackets	16,902	-1,212
Philadelphia Flyers	18,391	-1,672
Winnipeg Jets	15,794	-1,815
Dallas Stars	20,326	-1,964
San Jose Sharks	16,428	-2,422
Buffalo Sabres	17,167	-3,533
Chicago Blackhawks	21,441	-5,608

Looking at the table above, only eight NHL teams have experienced an increase in attendance versus their 2019-20 numbers. And only one of those teams — the Minnesota Wild — is situated in the Western Conference.

There is a good chunk of teams that have seen minimal attendance gains or losses since 2019-20, with the Washington Capitals being the only club to emerge with the exact same attendance figure.

Of course, there are several teams who are on the extremes and that’s where we want to focus our attention as we analyze the attendance figures against 2019-20. Here’s a look at the 10 NHL clubs with the biggest attendance swings — of at least 1,500 fans in either direction — when compared to the 2019-20 campaign.

Biggest risers

New York Islanders: 3,752 more fans/game  (29.3 percent increase)

For years Islanders fans served as a punching bag when it came to attendance-related jokes in NHL circles. Without a permanent home and bouncing between facilities, the Islanders almost had a nomadic feel to them for several seasons. But the move to UBS Arena has reversed their fortunes on this front, as the Islanders are playing to almost 97 percent capacity at home games this season.

Moving to a larger venue has certainly helped boost their attendance figures. Their previous homes at the Barclay’s Center (15,813 capacity) and Nassau Coliseum (13,900 capacity) simply didn’t have enough seats to generate huge crowds. But even when the Islanders were split between those smaller venues at Barclay’s Center and Nassau Coliseum in 2019-20, they were only playing in front of 81.3 percent capacity at home. In terms of capacity, they were the 30th-ranked team in the NHL in that 2019-20 season.

Conversely, they’ve had only one crowd under 15,000 at UBS this season. Clearly the attraction of a new arena is helping drive this spike in attendance, but if the Islanders can stay in the playoff race in the second half of the season, there is a chance they could flirt with an average attendance close to 17,000 per game.

“The atmosphere at Islanders home games this season is already better than last season, for one simple reason — the team is better,” says Islanders beat reporter Kevin Kurz. “There have already been a handful of late, multi-goal comebacks that have energized the home crowd, which is still filling the seats for just about every game.”

Ottawa Senators: 2,675 more fans/game (21.2 percent increase)

This season has represented a very nice bounce-back for an Ottawa team that had watched their attendance decline year over year in seven consecutive seasons dating back to 2015-16. The Senators bottomed out in that 2019-20 season, finishing dead last in the entire league in average attendance. The Senators had six games where their attendance was below 10,000 fans that season — a massive red flag illustrating how dire the situation was in Ottawa.

This season, however, they’ve turned things around and avoided those nights when the building looks half empty. The smallest crowd they’ve had so far this season was just over 12,000 for a Monday night game against Dallas in October. That’s roughly what the Senators were averaging on a nightly basis before the pandemic. The acquisition of some marquee players coupled with an impending ownership change has reignited the fan base in Ottawa and we’re certainly seeing the tangible proof of that at the box office. In September, the club announced it saw a 60 percent increase in its season ticket base compared to the 2019-20 season. If the Senators can finish this season averaging 16,000 fans, it would mark the first time they’ve reached that plateau since the 2016-17 campaign when they advanced to the Eastern Conference final.

Florida Panthers: 1,706 more fans/game (12.1 percent increase)

The Panthers are experiencing a smaller increase in attendance than the Islanders and Senators, but it might be enough to push them out of the bottom five in average attendance for the first time since 2015-16.

Fresh off winning a Presidents’ Trophy and making a blockbuster trade for Matthew Tkachuk in the summer, it feels like there is some excitement around the Panthers in South Florida. They are currently on pace to have their best average attendance in 10 years. However, in terms of capacity (82.1 percent), the Panthers remain a bottom-five team in the NHL.

Carolina Hurricanes: 1,574 more fans/game (9.4 percent increase)

At first glance, this doesn’t appear like a significant increase for the Hurricanes. They’re seeing less than a 10 percent increase in fans per game at the PNC Arena in Raleigh. But Carolina ranks sixth in average attendance at 18,369 — a remarkable reversal of fortune for another franchise dogged by attendance-related issues for several seasons.

To truly appreciate the Hurricanes’ rise up the attendance ladder, we should probably go all the way back to the 2016-17 campaign. That year, Carolina finished dead-last in the NHL, averaging only 11,776 fans per home game. They were only playing to 63 percent capacity at PNC Arena. Since Rod Brind’Amour took over in 2018-19, however, the Hurricanes have watched their fortunes reverse on the ice and at the box office. They’ve made the playoffs in every season under their new head coach and have watched their attendance increase accordingly.

The Hurricanes have a terrific chance to finish top 10 in average NHL attendance for the first time in franchise history. Their best season to date was in 2006-07, when they finished 15th in league attendance after capturing the Stanley Cup the previous year.

Biggest fallers

Chicago Blackhawks: 5,608 fewer fans/game (26.2 percent decrease)

The Chicago Blackhawks are drawing their smallest crowds since Patrick Kane won the Calder Trophy in 2007-08. The team is averaging 15,833 at the United Center, down from 21,441 in 2019-20 — the biggest drop in attendance in the league thus far. Chicago plays in one of the biggest buildings in the league, which is a real hit to the capacity rate. The Blackhawks currently rank second to last — behind the Buffalo Sabres — in the NHL with 77.2 percent capacity.

They’ve had some games with solid attendance numbers, like the home opener and Marian Hossa’s jersey retirement night, but the wholesale of top players, the declaration of the rebuild, and the general state of the team (they’re currently 31st in the league) has been a real hit in terms of getting fans in the stands.

Blackhawks attendance tonight: 17,611

It was a surprisingly good crowd. Here's the pic and an updated season attendance chart: pic.twitter.com/c2iiUWkNKG

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 28, 2022

This was probably to be expected — the organization isn’t exactly giving the fans something to buy tickets for — but it’s a real turn of events for a franchise that had a 535-game sellout streak just one year ago.

The Hawks’ worst attended season in the last two decades was in 2006-07, when they averaged 12,727 fans. That was before Jonathan Toews and Kane made their NHL debuts. The Blackhawks aren’t there yet, but what will happen if/when Kane and Toews are gone?

Buffalo Sabres: 3,533 fewer fans/game (20.6 percent decrease)

The Sabres are one of the biggest fallers probably due to a combination of things. The biggest one: They’re just not that good (yet), and they haven’t been for some time. 

They’re in the midst of another rebuilding effort after selling off players like Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Taylor Hall, among others. 

The Buffalo Bills being so good and commanding a lot of the attention likely hasn’t helped. And the KeyBank Center is pretty stale, too. 

We asked our Sabres writer, Matt Fairburn, for his take on the dip in attendance to ensure we weren’t way off here. 

“I think the season ticket base has also eroded over time. That’s made the prices on the secondary market higher because there aren’t as many fans just trying to unload tickets at any cost,” he said. “They sold out the Boston game and had big crowds a few other nights, including ’90s night against the Blues. But ultimately I just think them being so bad for so long has made people slow to buy in.”

From 2006-07 to 2019-20, the Sabres were consistently an upper-tier attendance team with an average that never dipped below 17,000 fans. But their 71.5 percent capacity for home games this season is dead last in the league. 

San Jose Sharks: 2,422 fewer fans/game (14.7 percent decrease)

The Sharks’ attendance has continued to drop as the team has dropped out of the playoff picture. 

When the 2019-20 season started, the Sharks were coming off their fourth-straight playoff appearance; this time a trip to the conference final after making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015-16. The team didn’t make the playoffs in 2019-20, and attendance dipped slightly (16,428) after years with sellouts — a 205-game sellout streak ended in 2014 – and typically hovering around 16,500 and 17,500 fans. 

Two years later, there are pandemic effects (team President Jonathan Becher has pointed to COVID-19 as a dominant issue with ticket sales), the team isn’t competitive anymore, and they’ve lost some franchise icons in Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton.

It’s probably not much deeper than that. The organization has shown it can sell out the SAP Center when the team is good. Right now, the Sharks are one of the worst teams in the league, and have among the most empty seats in the NHL (79.8 percent capacity). 

Dallas Stars: 1,964 fewer fans/game (9.7 percent decrease)

At first glance, the Dallas Stars are among the biggest fallers when we compare 2019-20 to this point in the 2022-23 season. Besides the obvious post-pandemic economic considerations, we had a hard time putting a finger on why they dropped down; the team is doing well and their stars — no pun intended — are shining. What gives?

Turns out their attendance numbers are actually pretty good when you zoom out a bit.

In 2019-20, the Stars averaged 20,326 fans as tracked by Hockey DB and Hockey Reference. American Airlines Center capacity is 18,532 for Stars games. The reason for the spike? Likely Dallas hosting the 2020 Winter Classic with a sold-out crowd of 85,630, which was the second-most attended game in NHL history. That would spike an average attendance over the arena capacity, although it’s silly that the game counts toward the normal average. 

Beyond that, the Stars’ 99.1 percent capacity through the quarter mark of the season is seventh league-wide. This season is on track to be one of the most well-attended Stars seasons in the last 10 years, behind only 2019-20 and 2015-16. 

Winnipeg Jets: 1,815 fewer fans/game (11.5 percent decrease)

After years of sellouts and enormous season ticket waitlists after the team returned to Winnipeg in 2011, the Jets are averaging 13,979 fans this season. That’s up from last season (12,716), but a drop from the last “normal” year in 2019-20. Keep in mind that Winnipeg has the smallest NHL building in the league — not counting Arizona’s Mullett Arena — so despite being bottom five in average attendance, the Jets are middle of the pack in terms of capacity (around 93 percent). 

Still, the near 2,000 fan drop in average attendance is fairly sizable. The reason for the drop is likely a combination of things with the post-pandemic economics top of mind. Just look at the average attendance before and after the peak pandemic.

That’s likely not a coincidence. Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Winnipeg last month and was asked about the team’s attendance — given his previously voiced concerns about a team in the city working “unless the building is sold out every night” — and suggested it was a period of adjustment and lingering reluctance after the pandemic.

“I don’t think there’s an attendance issue,” he said. “I believe this building can be and will be full again. I wouldn’t suggest there’s a crisis here.”

Beyond that, the Jets’ performance last season likely didn’t help, either. An offseason with minimal changes, save for a new coach in Rick Bowness and stripping the ‘C’ off Blake Wheeler, probably didn’t inspire confidence among the fan base when it came time to renew or sign up for season tickets.

The Jets are much improved this year, sitting ninth in the league. And, Murat Ates wrote this season that there appears to be recovery in the works with better game day presentation — which had previously been a bit stale/minimal — and better season seat holder promotions. Perhaps things will improve attendance wise. 

Philadelphia Flyers: 1,672 fewer fans (9.1 percent decrease)

Let’s flash back to Philadelphia in 2019-20 for a moment here. 

By the time the season was put on pause due to COVID-19, the Flyers were second in the Metropolitan Division and had the sixth-best point percentage in the NHL. When the playoffs returned to play, Philadelphia seemed to be everyone’s favorite “Dark Horse” pick. 

Claude Giroux was still the captain with a 21-goal, 56-point season. Travis Konecny had a 61-point breakout season. Sean Couturier (59 points), Jakub Voracek (56 points), Kevin Hayes (41) and James van Riemsdyk (40 points) rounded out a solid top-six forward corps. There was something for fans to go to Wells Fargo Center and see.

This year? Well, the Flyers are coming off a 61-point season, second worst in franchise history, and are now in a “retool” or a “building” phase because they don’t seem to actually use the term rebuild. 

Beyond that, the Flyers have won one playoff round in the last 10 years, were promised an “aggressive retool” in the summer and watched as Johnny Gaudreau signed in Columbus after leaving Calgary to be closer to home, among other moves that would reasonably frustrate a fan base enough to decide to stay home rather than go to a game.

Last season — which we did not qualify as a normal year due to COVID-19 measures — the Flyers averaged just 16,541 fans per game, their lowest full-season figure since 1972-73. This year’s figures (16,836) aren’t far off. 

Stats and research courtesy of Hockey DB and Hockey Reference

(Photo of the Carolina Hurricanes performing a Storm Surge for the fans after a win: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)