The Oilers hosted the Flames on Wednesday night, and Mark Spector noticed something nobody in Edmonton wants to see: empty seats.
“There is a plethora of vacant seats here in Edmonton tonight,” Spector wrote. “To my eye, at least 1,500 empties for a Battle of Alberta.”
For this rivalry, that's a red flag. These games are supposed to sell themselves.
When the building isn't full for Calgary, there's an attendance problem in Edmonton. There's no other way to read it.
It comes days after the Oilers rolled out $10 Decade Deals on burgers, parking and T-shirts at every home game.
Cheaper hot dogs clearly weren't enough to fill every seat on a rivalry night.
Oilers are 3-2-2 at Rogers Place, and they won't be back home until Nov. 5
Edmonton came in 5-0-0 on the road and 3-2-2 at home.
Fans haven't seen the best version of this team in their own building yet.
The Flames arrived on a four-game win streak, which should have only added fuel to the night.
And there was plenty going on. Devin Cooley left with an injury, and Jason Dickinson was back in the Oilers' lineup.
Zach Hyman is on injured reserve.
Empty seats at a Battle of Alberta are like a half-empty church on Christmas Eve. Something's off, and everybody notices.
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So what's keeping people home? Prices, a slow start at home, or something bigger?
Fans across Canada were already fuming this week over Sportsnet+ fees, so the cost of following this team is a sore spot.
The Oilers now head out on a three-game road trip through Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey.
They won't be back at Rogers Place until Nov. 5 against Anaheim. If the building looks like this for a Battle of Alberta, imagine a Thursday against the Ducks.
Do the Oilers have a real attendance problem?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Devin Cooley leaves Battle of Alberta with injury as Flames turn to Dustin Wolf
