(FORTUNE Small Business) – If anybody wins from the National Hockey League lockout, it is the NHL's little brother, the American Hockey League. After two down years, at the end of February AHL attendance was up 9%, to about 4.7 million. Teams in Bridgeport, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia had jumps of more than 10%. Even the smallest-market teams--and their small-business owners--have seen a boon. Tom Mitchell, who runs the $2-million-a-year American Materials Handling & Fabricating Co. and is a minority owner of the Binghamton Senators, a New York State hockey team, says that an influx of out-of-work NHL players has led to a 7.7% rise in attendance, putting about 4,500 fans in its 4,710-seat arena at each game. And the benefits are spread around: Pregame dinner sales at Uncle Tony's, a nearby tavern, are up about 15% this year, says owner Tony Basti. "I'm sold out every game," he says, hollering over the din at a pre-face-off happy hour. --I.M.