“It’s pretty empty, and sometimes, that depends on the teams that get into the Frozen Four, and where it’s at,” Haag said. “But it’s been rare, in my experiences here, to see it like this. There’s been empty seats, but not empty sections.”

His sister, Dona Haag, traveled from her home in Tampa to attend the Frozen Four, and has attended Frozen Fours in Boston and in Tampa. Buffalo, she said, was a noticeably different atmosphere.

“In Boston in 2015, Boston University and Providence played, and it was so loud, it felt like the roof was about to blow off,” she said. “Even in Tampa, it was a great atmosphere. But I didn’t expect this.”

The attendance struggles follow on the heels of last year's World Junior Championships, in which average attendance at KeyBank Center was around 5,000. The overall average for the event was nearly 11,000, thanks to 44,592 who attended the outdoor game between the U.S. and Canada at New Era Field. However, officials said they were pleased that the event drew more than 200,000 total spectators, among the top 10 for a World Juniors.