At the time, teams were not required to dress a backup goaltender so when the Rangers ' regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, left a game with an eye injury, Maroons head coach Eddie Gerard vetoed his original choice for a replacement ( who was Alex Connell, another NHL goalie of the old Ottawa Senators who was in attendance for the game ).

The 2003-04 season was a difficult ordeal, with Lemieux suffering a season-ending hip injury early in the season, and attendance dipping to an average of 11, 877 ( the lowest average out of any NHL team ) and only one game sold out.

The momentum from the Cup Finals appearance did not last, however, and the next two seasons saw the ' Canes drop into the cellar of the NHL rankings ; many of the new fans attracted to the team ( and to hockey itself ) during the 2002 playoff run lost interest and attendance declined.

The Colorado Avalanche have the all-time NHL record for the longest consecutive attendance sell outs at home games with 487.

The Blackhawks continued to sellout games, with the best average attendance of 21, 356 over Montreal's 21, 273 in the NHL, and had a total of 854, 267 excluding the playoffs.

The Oilers were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens 4 – 3 in front of more than 55, 000 fans, an NHL attendance record, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

* February 8, 2004: the NHL All-Star Game set a record for attendance at a hockey game in Minnesota at 19, 434

In 2008, the Mammoth average attendance per game was highest among Pepsi Center's residents, including the Colorado Avalanche ( NHL ), and the Denver Nuggets ( NBA ).

However, the 2004 – 2005 lockout and continued poor attendance and some of the lowest ticket prices in the NHL resulted in continuing financial difficulties after moving to Glendale.

The team started having attendance problems when the NHL expanded to the United States in 1924 ; games against the new American teams did not draw well.

With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, the contest was played to a 5 – 5 tie without incident.

A Forbes article investigated why certain NHL franchises could remain profitable despite poor attendance and overall league unprofitability.

A week after the Canucks ' loss, Daniel was in attendance for the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas, having been nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player, the Ted Lindsay Award as the league's most outstanding player and the NHL Foundation Player Award for his and Henrik's work in the Vancouver community.

Seating was added in that section for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic which had an attendance of 68, 111.

With no NHL hockey for the season, the team proved highly successful at the gate, finishing third in the AHL in attendance at 8, 854 fans per game despite a disappointing season plagued by injury.

However, holding the venue in a higher capacity venue allowed for that estimate to nearly double, with 19, 127 spectators — a then record for attendance at an NHL Entry Draft — attending the draft.

The league did not have large TV revenues in the US, so the NHL was reliant on attendance revenues more than other leagues.

Many NHL teams had low attendance totals in preceding seasons.

Also in the United States, the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) also saw some big gains in attendance in markets in which have both NHL and NBA teams, this is in part because the NHL and NBA season run in a similar time frame within the year and often play in the same venue.

The Junior team was the most popular attraction in town during the NHL lockout of 1995, setting attendance records for the Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League.

Eight teams, or over 26 % of the league, had lower attendance than the MTS Centre's capacity through the 2010-11 NHL season.

After the 2003-2004 season, the Oilers chose to relocate the Roadrunners to Edmonton for the 2004-2005 season due to poor attendance and anticipation of the impending 2004 – 05 NHL lockout.

Their first season was during the NHL lockout, and this, combined with a liberal amount of free ticket vouchers distributed at local stores, helped the Vipers break IHL attendance records that season with nearly 17, 000 per game on average.

Federko scored at least 90 points in seven of the eight seasons between 1978 and 1986, and became the first player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons.

On March 19, 1988, Federko became the 22nd NHL player to record 1000 career points.

* 1981 – In the 39th game of his 3rd NHL season Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals giving him 50 on the year setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.

The 1954 – 55 season ended a run of eight straight regular season titles, an NHL record.

The Wings kept adding more star power, picking up Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, and goaltender Mike Vernon in trades and winning an NHL record 62 games in 1996.

After the Olympic break, Detroit posted a record of 13-2-2 and earned 28 points, the most by any team in the NHL in the month of March.

A healthier Red Wings team finished the 2010 – 11 NHL season with a 47-25-10 record and 104 points to win the Central Division title.

On Tuesday, February 14, 2012, the Red Wings set the NHL record for most consecutive wins at home in a single season by winning their 21st home game with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars, and on Sunday, February 19, 2012, defeated the San Jose Sharks to record their 23rd consecutive home victory, breaking the overall record previously held by the Boston Bruins over two seasons from 1929-1930.

* 1976 – Darryl Sittler sets an NHL record for scoring 10 points in a single game.

By the time he finished playing in Edmonton, he held or shared 49 NHL records, which in itself was a record.

Since their last Cup win in 1983, they are currently the only team of the four major North American sports leagues ( NHL, NFL, NBA, & MLB ) to win 4 consecutive championships, and hold the NHL record for most consecutive playoff series ' wins at 19 ( 1980 Playoffs-1984 Playoffs ).

* March 12 – Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks sets the NHL single season scoring record against the New York Rangers, with his 51st goal.

Despite these moves, the Rockies still posted the worst record in the NHL.

However, this young and inexperienced expansion team posted a record of 12 – 60 – 6, one of the worst in NHL history.

The Islanders continued their stunning climb up the NHL standings in 1975 – 76, earning 101 points, the fifth-best record in the league.

In 1978 – 79, the team finished with the best record in the NHL.

The Islanders finished with the worst record in the NHL and the second-worst season in franchise history ; the team's 0. 317 winning percentage that year was only ahead of only 1972 – 73's. 192.

The Rangers clinched the Presidents ' Trophy by finishing with the best record in the NHL at 52 – 24 – 8, setting a franchise record with 112 points.

Despite his arrival, the team struggled in 1969 – 70 recording only 17 wins — the fewest in franchise history ( as of completion of the 2010 – 11 season — and set the NHL team record for most ties ( 24 ).

In 1974 – 75, Schultz topped his mark from the previous season by setting an NHL record for penalty minutes ( 472 in all ).