Red Wings give local bars a cup-full during playoffs

A prolonged playoff run for the Detroit Red Wings has led to heightened local bar traffic for the second consecutive season.

Sales are up between 23 and 27 percent at Buffalo Wild Wings in Mount Pleasant when the Red Wings have a playoff game, according to General Manager Jess Boughner.

“(There’s) probably about 75 to 100 more people when the Red Wings are playing,” he said. “We make sure we have extra kitchen and extra servers on the floor just to accommodate the increase.”

For the second consecutive time in the National Hockey League Finals, the Detroit Red Wings are playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. Boughner said the rematch has brought about the same amount of buzz as last year’s final round.

O’Kelly’s Sports Bar and Grille Manager Casey McGuire said the type of customers who come in for games varies greatly.

“You’ll have some tables that are 22-year-old kids here to watch the game and then at the same time you’ll have middle-aged people and on up to the elderly people,” he said. “Everybody wants to come out and watch their team win.”

John McKinnie, a Wyandotte senior, was in attendance at O’Kelly’s Sports Bar and Grille for the first two games played on back-to-back nights, Saturday and Sunday night.

“I’ve never seen so many people at O’Kelly’s on Sunday,” he said. “That place was (busier) on a Sunday than probably like a Tuesday.”

McKinnie said the most apparent change wasn’t the attendance spike but rather the atmosphere.

“I think there’s a sense of camaraderie with everyone even though you don’t know anyone,” he said. “You’re all rooting for the Red Wings. Even though you don’t know the people, you feel like you’re all friends there and other nights it’s not like that.”

Boughner and McGuire agreed Saturday was little busier than Sunday but Boughner said a lot of people left immediately after Sunday’s game because of work on Monday morning. However, McGuire said people got settled in earlier than usual because of the games.

The Red Wings won the first two games of the series, beating Pittsburgh 3-1 in each game. Although local fans are happy, the local bars may be hoping for an extended series to increase traffic.

“It helps out a lot,” McGuire said. “It brings people in earlier. It helps us on every level. Attendance-wise on a night it could almost double it.”

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