our friends in Chestnut hill haven't been drawing flies most of the year and it's not just because they're having a mediocre season. Some of it is probably due to changed student demographics. I also saw a game at PC a few weeks ago where there couldn't have been 500 people in the stands.

When did this happen?

I don't thing either ever fills half their seats on a given night (no matter what the phony #s in the boxscores say), and they ain't alone.

I know people say the 60" Ultra High Def 4K 3D TVs are keeping people home, but I think there is more to it than that. TV was supposed to have ruined the live experience by around 1955. Then color TV and replay were supposed to have done it in by 1970. Then cable TV in the mid 1980s when more than half of all households finally subscribed.

I don't know for sure what it is, but I suspect the social media machines that are in almost everyone's hands 24/7 might have something to do with it.

both used to regularly get 6K or so most nights. No longer. And I don't think it's just due to the recent W-L issues.

I have lived in the Boston area for over 10 years now. To be honest, it is just not a college sports town. With the exception of Notre Dame playing BC in football I rarely hear of any events being sold out. With all the success that the pro teams have had in the area I just don't think that many people are interested in attending college sporting events.

of years BC and BU generally drew good crowds. UML and Northeastern did, as well. You're right about other college sports but the falloff in hockey is recent and IMHO is not due to the appeal of pro sports.

I have heard good things about games at BU, though I have never gone. One of my neighbors played hockey at Merrimack and I couldn’t tell you the last time he has been to a game.

All the conversations I have had recently about going to a hockey game has been about the Bruins. No one seems to care about going to a college hockey game. It is odd given the youth interest in the sport and the affordability of a college game.

this year, given the season it's having. Of course, it plays its home games 90 miles away, so that isn't a Boston attendance issue. NESN still covers a fair number of HE games, as well. Merrimack is probably not a good example, in part because it's never had a consistently good program and because its rink is tiny. I just don't think that your correct generalization about pro vs. college fits the hockey niche. In other words, the recent falloff is likely due to something else.

For instance, there have been NU games on the channel this season that looked very much like they were basically produced by NU.