[Erick Estrada]

Come on people. Yes there are some empty seats but it's nothing like the 90's or pre-2004. Not even close. Lets not forget that the Flames are only two years away from matching the Young Guns era of 7 years out of the playoffs and it's night and day to where the building was 1/3 empty some nights at 5 straight years out of the playoffs in those years. Right now you have a team that the entire city knows isn't likely going to make the playoffs before the season started and still for the most part attendance is healthy even with little star power and the building becoming long on the tooth. I don't think the Flames will be overly concerned and lets not forget the Saddledome has too many seats in the first place as 18,000 is the sweet spot for new buildings as it's large but not large enough to water down demand and ticket pricing.