THN.com Blog: Hockeytown?.

For almost 10 straight years, you didn't even have to look at the bottom of the summary for home games involving the Detroit Red Wings, because it always read: Attendance: 20,066. And those numbers weren't the bogusly inflated ones you see in many American rinks these days. Every seat in Joe Louis Arena had a bum in it. That the Red Wings – a universal pick to be a serious Stanley Cup contender – had almost 2,500 empty seats for their first game of the season against the defending Stanley Cup champion should scare the living bejeepers out of anyone who is concerned about dwindling fan interest in the NHL. This wasn't a Wednesday night game against Columbus in the middle of January; this was opening night against the best team in the NHL – one that knocked off the Wings in a great six-game series in the Western Conference... [read full story]