Lee Auer called it simply "the best week ever" to be a Blue Jackets fan.

Last March, the team won four games in a seven-day span, beating Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh and Chicago to fuel its first Stanley Cup playoff run.

Auer sat among a sellout crowd of 19,167 in Nationwide Arena to see the Blue Jackets outlast the Penguins 4-3 in a shootout. He described the atmosphere as "amazing" and "electric."

Now, though, the season ticket-holder, who drives from Portsmouth for the games, ruefully wonders where the good times have gone.

"That was less than a year ago," Auer said. "And it seems like an eternity."

Tonight, the Jackets play host to the Nashville Predators to begin a stretch in which they play 12 of their next 17 games at home. But with the club having won just eight times since Nov. 19 and with playoff hopes dim, what kind of crowds and atmosphere await?

"I'm still going to games, (but) the thrill is not there because they aren't winning," Auer said.

Blue Jackets ownership and management, -- who have made no substantial changes during an 8-19-7 skid, are interested to see what kind of walk-up crowds they attract.

The team is averaging 15,221 fans, a 2.5 percent increase from last year at this time. Those numbers have received a boost from the 600-plus season-ticket subscriptions they sold after making the playoffs.

Team president Mike Priest estimates weekday games should average at least 13,500 the rest of the season.

"We have our hard-core fans, but to bring in the casual fans we have to win," captain Rick Nash said.

It's a pivotal time for a franchise that says it's losing $12 million a year. There has been no development in the club's bid to gain public financial support for its arena rent. Meanwhile, of the 36 luxury boxes available, 18 are up for renewal this summer.

"Every one of us is frustrated, every one of us is disappointed that we hit a stretch like we hit," Priest said. "The emotions are coming out, but I want (the fans) to be emotional. When they lose their passion, that's an issue."

Jackets fan Bill Abram of Gahanna has one primary question for the organization:

"Is there another sports franchise that would put up with a losing streak like this and not make a major change, like firing the general manager or coach?" he asked.

Abram said he will not renew the season tickets he has held for six seasons. The Jackets are returning to the losing ways they endured under former president and general manager Doug MacLean, he said.

"Maybe not selling the same snake oil, but the same results," Abram said.

Priest disputes the assertion that the team's credibility within the league and with its fan base has dropped to levels of the MacLean era.

But Clint Armstrong said he can no longer justify driving from suburban Cincinnati to attend two to four games per season.

"I expect to see some heart, skill and drive from the team when I make the trek up to Columbus for a game," he wrote in an e-mail.

Aaron Weisman, a season ticket-holder since the inaugural season, said he plans to keep supporting the club, but he wants a coaching change. He is in favor of replacing Ken Hitchcock with former Jackets player Kevin Dineen, the coach of the minor-league Portland Pirates.

"He's a good coach who has shown the ability to develop young players like we have," Weisman said.

Hitchcock said the Jackets need to use the slew of home games to make "a good impression" on fans. He will get a chance to mingle with them Wednesday as he broadcasts his weekly radio show from the R Bar in the Arena District.

" 'Nervous'would be the word," he said. "The last time I spoke in a bar was postgame of a junior hockey game and the questions were coming fast and furious. If the guy hadn't shut it off, I'd still be answering questions."

Rick Faulkner, 68, remains behind Hitchcock and the club and plans to keep attending games. A Long Island, N.Y., native, Faulkner has gone through the "expansion blues" with the Islanders and Blue Jackets.

"Hey, I'm tired of getting scored on in the first two minutes of every game, too," Faulkner said. "But you don't walk away because you're having a bad season. The future isn't as bleak as a lot of people are painting it."

treed@dispatch.com