Analyzing Blackhawks’ attendance at the United Center this season

A crowd of 18,742 filled the United Center for the Blackhawks‘ home finale Sunday against the Hurricanes, bringing the team’s final 2023-24 attendance average to 18,836.

Although there are a handful of games left to play around the league, the Hawks will likely wind up fourth in the NHL in attendance this season — behind the Canadiens, Lightning and Red Wings and just ahead of the Canucks, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs.

This season’s attendance marked a sizable increase over last season’s average of 17,167, which in itself significantly exceeded expectations. It’s the Hawks’ highest full-season mark since 2019-20, when they averaged 21,441 fans per game in the final year of the sellout streak (before the pandemic hit).

The Hawks drew at least 18,000 fans to each of their final 16 home games from Feb. 15 on, including a season-high crowd of 21,141 for Chris Chelios’ jersey retirement Feb. 25 against the Red Wings. They also exceeded 20,000 fans for the Black Friday game (Nov. 24 against the Leafs) and for the pre- and post-Christmas games (Dec. 22 against the Canadiens and Dec. 27 against the Jets).

They dipped below 17,000 only three times, with the season-low crowd (16,401) coming Jan. 16 against the Sharks. That’s a big change from last season, when they fell short of 17,000 on 18 occasions.

Mrazek’s plans

Thanks to the two-year contract extension he signed back in January, Hawks goalie Petr Mrazek won’t have to worry about free agency this summer.

Instead, after backstopping the Czech team in the World Championships that his country is hosting next month, the 32-year-old will have time for some vacations and “a lot of golf.”

He believes his decision last summer to spend less time on the ice — instead focusing on off-ice workouts — helped him stay so healthy this season, so he’ll follow the same routine this summer.

“I hope, next year, we’re going to move into the right direction,” Mrazek said. “We’re going to start getting better and we’re going to get closer to where we want to be — closer to the playoffs. That was the reason I wanted to stay. I know I can play a lot of games here, as well. I didn’t want to gamble in the offseason.”

World travelers

With Mrazek playing for Czechia, Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic playing for the U.S. and Connor Bedard likely playing for Canada — as long as his body feels alright after this final week of the NHL season — the Hawks could have four representatives in the World Championships.

“Worlds is fun,” coach Luke Richardson said. “It’s a little bit less stress than here, [where] you’re in the media every day. Over there, it’s a little quieter. … It’s great for the players to go over, get on the bigger ice and play in a little bit of a different environment.”

Switching sides

Left-handed defenseman Kevin Korchinski technically played right defense Sunday, paired with Jarred Tinordi instead of the usual Jaycob Megna.

Richardson, who mentions often how interchangeable positions can be in hockey, quipped that Korchinski has indeed played the right side previously this season; he “just doesn’t know it.”

“I’m not a big lefty-righty guy,” Richardson said. “The way the game is played now, sometimes you get on the other side. You’ve got to work on it and be ready for that, even if you’re not slotted there the whole game.”

Ethan Del Mastro also made his second NHL appearance, although he’s expected to return to Rockford now.