NHL sets season attendance record

The NHL says it has set a single-season attendance record with more than 22.5 million fans filling arenas and stadiums.

The league said the new mark of 22,560,634 was set with 18 games remaining in the regular season, with buildings so far filled 97 per cent to capacity. The season ends Thursday and the playoffs begin Saturday.

The previous record was 22,436,532 in 2022-23. This is the third season with 32 teams.

Nearly 80,000 people watched the New York Rangers and Islanders play outdoors at Metlife Stadium in February, making it the most attended game in the NHL'S 106-year history. The record also included the Winter Classic at T-mobile Park in Seattle, the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, and Global Series games played at Avicii Arena in Stockholm.

This season is expected to produce record revenue of roughly $6.2 billion.

Klay Thompson provided many memorable moments during his decade-plus run as Stephen Curry's Splash Brother running mate for the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

The Game 6 heroics. The scores of 3-pointers. The shut-down defence against some of the game's top scorers.

Those were all distant memories as Thompson had one of his worst games ever at a big moment, missing all 10 shots he took Tuesday night in a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament that was Thompson's last game before an uncertain summer of free agency.

He spent the final minutes of the loss sitting on the bench with a blank stare before slowly walking off the court for what might be the final time in a Warriors uniform.