Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL Out Drew Florida Panthers of the NHL in Attendance!

Not too often do you see a minor league team out draw a professional one in game attendance.

You got that this past week as the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL hosted their first game at their new home, the Denny Sanford Premier Center, with a record setting crowd of 10,678 and actually out drew the Florida Panthers of the NHL who played this week in front of a very disappointing 7,311 fans.

To add insult to injury, the Florida Panthers lost that game to the Ottawa Senators 1-0.

The previous low attendance mark for the Panthers was when only 10,063 fans showed up for one of their games.

Clearly there are contributing factors, like a warm weather NHL team playing in the heart of the football season, accompanied with a bad product on the ice and the NHL being 4th best among all professional sports were reasons for the low attendance.

But all that being said, it doesn't excuse the organization from the fact that they are failing right now.  On the ice and in the world of putting butts in seats, the Florida Panthers need to change something and change something fast before the Florida Panthers are no more.

** YOU CAN EMAIL JEFF THURN AT JT@ESPN991.COM AND FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @JTESPN991