Red Wings see an eye-opening shift in attendance numbers at Little Caesars Arena

Fans will once again fill Little Caesars Arena tonight, as the Red Wings are back on home ice and are hosting the New York Islanders (7:00 PM, FanDuel Sports Detroit, 97.1 The Ticket).

Meanwhile, the latest NHL attendance figures have been released.

Fans will be quick to notice that one of the biggest shifts in home attendance as compared to last season belongs to the Red Wings.

According to a study conducted by Sound of Hockey, the Red Wings have enjoyed the second-highest increase in attendance by NHL teams, improving 7% over this point last year.

The NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets boast the highest increase in fan attendance with a whopping 15.9% increase, while the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers increased their attendance by 4.3%.

Other teams that have seen increases include the Washington Capitals, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames.

On the flip side, a handful of teams have seen a troubling decrease in fans attending their home games.

The biggest drop-off belongs to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have seen their attendance figures fall 5.3%.

The Los Angeles Kings have fallen 4.9%, while the New York Islanders (the Red Wings' opponent for Thursday evening) dropped 4.2%.

During the Red Wings' glory years at Joe Louis Arena, they enjoyed a lengthy sell-out streak that stretched over 400 games as the city became known as Hockeytown.

That was the polar opposite of the venue's early days when team owner Mike Ilitch tried to boost attendance by giving away a vehicle to one lucky fan every game.

The Red Wings have enjoyed mostly strong attendance numbers since transitioning to Little Caesars Arena in 2017, even during the abysmal 2019-20 season.

Despite owning the League's worst record, they still averaged 18,716 fans per game (meaning an average of 95.9% of tickets were sold for each home game).