Sharks Attendance Growth Among NHL's Best Despite Low Average

Despite averaging near the bottom of the NHL's average attendance, the San Jose Sharks are seeing a growth year-over-year that rivals the league's top.

The Athletic recently published a story about each team's midseason attendance. Although the Sharks are in the third tier, the underlying numbers suggest fans are starting to return to SAP Center.

San Jose is currently averaging 13,859 as of Jan. 9, 79.5% of the 17,435 the arena can hold. The number is low, but from a year-over-year perspective, the Sharks have increased their capacity by 1.8%. The Florida Panthers, who had the best boost any NHL franchise can get, winning the Stanley Cup, had a jump in attendance of 2.1%. The surprising Washington Capitals had an increase of 2%. The Athletics considers those percentages elite compared to the rest of the NHL.

"It's not the same bump Chicago got from Connor Bedard, and the Sharks still have the toughest time filling their arena capacity in the league. But fans are starting to show up in San Jose for Macklin Celebrini, who has been excellent to start his career. They will be an interesting team to continue to track both on the ice and in the stands," James Mirtle and Hailey Salvian wrote.

Excluding the Winnipeg Jets, who had one of the best starts to an NHL season, the Sharks rank fourth in year-over-year growth across all NHL franchises.

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky had a message for fans who attended the team's 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 4. San Jose had a sellout crowd during that game.

Macklin Celebrini has seemingly become box-office material with his electric performances every night. It is only a matter of time before he gets even more national recognition and the team starts pushing for playoff spots again.

Related: Sharks' Macklin Celebrini Might've Played His Best Game Of Career Against Wild

"They're still in the bottom tier — and at the bottom of the standings — but the San Jose Sharks are inching closer to an 80 percent capacity at SAP Center. That's an increase from the past few months (77.5 percent)," James Mirtle and Hailey Salvian wrote.

Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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