The only thing I would say against that is we don't know if those 177 were new patrons, in addition to the 897 peak. Some who were part of the drop from 897 may have come back for a few months at least, trying to get him through what they thought was just a temporary slump.
But however you slice it, I like to look at things over time rather than just month to month. You see how his drop was significant right after that initial surge and then slowed down over the holiday months, but he still averaged -22 per month in those 10 months. He's also not gaining anything permanently; he was in the same exact spot, on the nose, January 2 this year and last year.
And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy LOL!