Tuesday's FTB: Fans are staying away from Leafs games in, well, very small numbers

Experienced demographic hockey analyst John Barr, who goes by the moniker Sound of Hockey some of the time, has put out a comprehensive report on NHL attendance.

You get a lot of "I just think" sort of statements about things like this. Guesses based on a camera pan of the lower bowl while half the crowd are lined up to buy beer or to recycle it. Assumptions that your level of irritation and fedupitude is universal. And you'll see non-hockey reporters doing stories on "declining interest in hockey" that only tell a fraction of the story. This is why it's good to have something that covers all the angles.

Read the disclaimers in the article, but a couple of highlights: overall NHL attendance (tickets distributed as reported by teams) is up slightly and is at the highest point in a decade. Outdoor and international games are excluded to make this mean something more than just how big a football stadium the Winter Classic was played in that year.

Attendance rebounded after Covid very quickly and has grown within the small amount it's possible (most teams sell out). Arizona moving was a big part of the small increase last year, and Utah is a big part of the increase so far this year. But that's about being a team worth watching, not just being in a bigger arena.

To significantly add to ticket revenue, the NHL would need to see some of the smaller arenas replaced with larger ones, prices to rise, or more teams added. And they only control one of those things, so that's a good reason for the push to further expansion I think we'll get very soon.

The team-by-team report, which is based on the same number of games from last year as this year, shows the Leafs down 1.1%. San Jose has the biggest increase, and Minnesota and Chicago have the biggest declines. The Wild struggled early, so that's likely to change for them, and Chicago are also likely to generate more interest, given their standings position.

Montréal and Toronto have similar small declines, and both teams are at near capacity every year, so some of this is just noise. Many things affect ticket sales, and in the Leafs case, it could be too many home games packed into the first two months.

The fans aren't staying away in droves. In terms of the number of games, out of 15 home games so far, that the Leafs have sold out, it's five, down from 10 in the first 15 last year. The Wild are a little worse off, down eight from last year.

As the author says, effects of team performance can lag, sometimes for full seasons.

While I'm perusing his work, on his other account, there's this look at goals against:

Average goals against per game and change over last season. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/OeMMmlms1t
— NHLtoSeattle (@NHLtoSeattle) November 24, 2025

Congrats, Leafs, you're almost worse than Vancouver.

For a full list of the injury statuses and timelines from yesterday, this has good quotes:

I think the uncertainty about Stolarz is something shared by everyone, him, the team, the medical staff. Craig Berube had said a week ago, he hoped he'd be skating by now, but that is not happening.

What is happening is that Matt Knies and Auston Matthews will be looked at again at today's practice and a decision will be made about tomorrow's game for them.

Nic Roy is on about the same timeline and it's possible he's available too.

And finally, the worst person you know, etc. etc.