Still Plenty of Seats Available at the Pond

So far, the bounce the Mighty Ducks received from reaching the Stanley Cup finals last spring has been only a small hop to this point, at least at the box office.

Attendance through the first four games has mirrored the start of last season, when expectations were minimal. The announced crowds have been up about 1,000 to an average of 14,254, but the actual in-house crowd has been about 10,000-11,000 since the sellout in the home opener.

“There is room for improvement,” said Al Coates, the Ducks’ vice president of business operations. “By our own standards, we’re way ahead of where we thought we should be. We still have a long way to go.”

The Ducks, once one of hockey’s hottest tickets, have fallen on hard times in recent seasons. Their season-ticket base was believed to be around 8,000 a year ago. Coates said that season ticket-sales this season jumped about 2,000, which he said doesn’t include the increase in mini-plans and half-season plans.

“The success of the team last season, cumulating with the playoff run, gave us a platform to sell from,” Coates said.

Still, the Ducks rank 25th out of 30 teams so far in attendance. They were 26th in 2002-03 and last in 2001-02. They still lag behind the Kings in attendance by about 3,000 per game.

“I don’t think we’ve taken a step backward in any area,” Coates said. “We’re taking baby steps and want to make sure we go forward. It would be very easy to take a big leap and fail. We’re not interested in failing.

“It’s not like we started with 13,000 [season-ticket holders]. It was a long way down and a long way back up. We are not where we want to be, but what we have done is not something to be overlooked either.”

October is traditionally a tough month for hockey teams and attendance is down in other arenas.

In Dallas, the Stars had a streak of 238 consecutive sellouts ended last week. In San Jose, the Sharks had the third-lowest crowd in franchise history in Tuesday’s game against the Ducks.

In New Jersey, the defending champion Devils announced a crowd of 10,016 in the 19,040 Continental Airlines Arena.

*

Duck defenseman Keith Carney, out since Oct. 2, will have his broken right foot examined tonight and could get the green light to resume skating. Carney will travel with the team on its upcoming five-game trip, which begins Tuesday against the New York Rangers. He could return to the lineup later in the trip.

*

TONIGHT

vs. Buffalo, 7:30, Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- XPRS (1090).

Records -- Ducks 2-4-0-1, Sabres 3-4-0-0

Record vs. Sabres (2002-03) -- 0-1.

Update -- The Ducks are only one point off from where they were at the same time last season. The Duck power play is off to a sluggish start, with only three goals in 32 chances. They have shown some improvement, with all three power-play goals coming in their last three games. Sergei Fedorov has four points -- one goal, three assists -- in the last three games.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.