The Manitoba Moose hockey club is the hottest pro show on Canadian ice.

The AHL club has outdrawn more fans than any other professional team in the country -- an accomplishment made possible because of the NHL lockout, leaving six Canadian markets in a sad state of affairs.

Manitoba's nightly average attendance mark of 8,680 fans is tops in the nation and second only to the U.S.-based Manchester Monarchs (8,879) in the entire AHL.

Moose owner Mark Chipman said a number of factors have contributed to the club's success, both on the ice and at the turnstiles at the new MTS Centre.

"It's been a combination of things," Chipman said yesterday. "The new building has generated a lot of interest. The quality of the team... having (head coach) Randy Carlyle back, remaining competitive with an up-tempo brand of hockey, and the fact the NHL isn't playing.

"Put it all together and this is as good as it's been for us."

The team's remarkable 2004-05 campaign has drawn the attention of The New York Times, one of the largest and most widely read newspapers in the world.

Monday's edition of the Times featured a page-four story showering praise on the streaking Moose, the farm club of the idle Vancouver Canucks.

It did, however, administer a few body blows to the city the Moose call home.

"Now, suddenly, modest Winnipeg has some bragging rights," the story suggests, softening the sting of a few earlier shots at our "icy winds... ravenous mosquitoes" and our "deplorable skid row in the heart of downtown."

But writer Clifford Krauss does, indeed, laud the Moose organization for its exciting brand of hockey, affordability and terrific community spirit.

"That is sweet revenge for a city that has not had an NHL game since 1996, when the Winnipeg Jets left for Phoenix. Now, the rest of Canada is finding out what life after the NHL feels like -- and maybe learning a thing."