^This, and I think it's fair to recognize that the Badgers should lead NCAA D-I men's hockey in attendance. I'm not saying that as some spokesman for the Badgers; I'm saying that because it makes sense. When you take into account the size of the university, hockey fandom*/participation in the area, the size of the market, and the competition for both dollars and plain-old energy for following sports teams in that market, I don't think there is a more potent place on the D-I college hockey map. The Boston area is diluted due to multiple schools and major pro teams. College hockey isn't as diluted in southeastern Michigan, but there's still more competition. The twin cities area is bigger and more hockey-mad, but there's also far more competition. As long as the size of the arena isn't the limiting factor in Madison, averaging 8K is far below the realistic potential of the program.
*I feel like a broken record, because the majority of times I've chimed in on this thread over the last several months, I've been saying a lot of the same things. One of those things is how absolutely alarming the disparity is between NHL fans and college hockey fans on campus. When the coats, jackets, and sweatshirts start coming off, NHL jerseys (not including t-shirts) are everywhere on campus, even compared to other pro sports. There are tons of people who don't get into it because...well...they just never get into it (chicken and the egg), even if they are hockey fans.
People who were in my class typically didn't see UW hockey as a big "event" sport unless they really got into it early. I know a guy just 2 years ahead of me who basically went through a different world when it comes to UW hockey - he's not that into hockey, but he was still generally aware of how the team was doing at any given point, and he definitely saw it as the third "major sport" on campus. That's what needs to come back, and it's what I mean when I say that they need to build it from the ground up so people see it as a "thing" again. As tall of a task as that is, the potential is definitely there, and it is perfectly reasonable to describe 8-9K crowds as disappointingly small, even if you ignore the illusions created by arena capacity that make it feel emptier (not that the effects on fans' energy - and overall experience - isn't real).
Also, those "upper reserved" seats should be like $12-15, not $20. That didn't make sense to me five years ago, and it doesn't make sense now. I don't have access to a ton of data on price elasticity, but I find it hard to believe that they get more revenue at the $20 price - which nobody buys because it's so close to the $24 seats - than they would at a lower price. Factor in future returns from returning fans and an enhanced game experience (because of more fans), and it becomes even more worth it.
