Why attendance success hasn't crossed the border

Timing, location, competition at play in low U.S. crowd counts

- MARK COLLEY

It's 6 p.m. and the four double doors at the entrance of the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., swing open. There's a short line assembled outside in the warm May sun, scattered with fans wearing the forest green of Boston's PWHL team.

The small crowd files through security, stopping at a merch table to pick up sweaters, toques and tumblers. By the time the puck drops for Game 3 of the BostonMontreal semifinal - a game that would clinch Boston's spot in the Walter Cup final-the 6,500-seat arena is little more than half full.

It wasn't much better Sunday for the opener of the final against Minnesota with an announced crowd of 4,508.

Such are the PWHL playoffs in the United States, where ticket sales have lagged behind regular-season figures and far behind the numbers in Canada. It's a problem that's not going away with two American teams in the final.

In the Canadian markets - Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal - the inaugural season has been a rousing success. The teams have sold out NHL arenas, set attendance records and generated media and fan buzz alike.

But in the U.S., the reception has occasionally been muted, especially in the playoffs: Minnesota drew only 2,766 fans for Game 4 against Toronto, its smallest crowd at the Xcel Energy Center. Meanwhile, the crowd for Boston's Game 3 against Montreal, on the same night as a Bruins playoff game, was the team's third-smallest.

Playoff effect