A report in the Sports Business Daily draws rather unfortunate attention to the fact that the Stars are experiencing the largest decline in attendance versus this time last season, down 18.8% according to them. The Predators, meanwhile, are experiencing the largest increase.

Now, this isn't exactly news. You can go to ESPN's attendance page or use the NHL.com stats to figure this out any time you'd like, and lord knows we've talked about it at length here on Defending Big D, but to see it thrust into the national spot light like this is unsettling. We spoke last season about the attendance and were concerned at a 3% or 4% drop. 18% just a year later is almost unfathomable and shows the collective damage of missing the playoffs two years in a row, losing a franchise icon in Mike Modano, and the on-going ownership debacle and sale that still involved the name "Tom Hicks" (somehow).

I hate writing about this. I hate it. Anyone who hangs around this site or knows me in real life knows my passion for going to Stars games. The American Airlines Center is my "happiest place on earth." I miss it dearly in the summer and I relish every excruciating moment there in the season. I wish I could make people love going to hockey games like my family does, but only the team can do that. Winning is the one and only cure for this ill.

Anyway...