When for one night, the home of the Orange hosted professional ice hockey’s largest indoor crowd
We may be a Syracuse Orange publication, but there are rare exceptions where it’s also worth posting about other events. This is one of them – especially for a hockey enthusiast such as myself.
Ten years ago, the Syracuse Crunch took on their I-90 Rival the Utica Comets inside the Carrier Dome. To this day, the 30,715 fans that made their way inside are the largest gathering for indoor hockey in the United States, making it one of the most memorable games to be played in a venue with a long, long list of them.
But it was not easy to make happen.
With the NHL’s start of annual outdoor games in 2008 – the first played a few hours west between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres – the American Hockey League soon concocted their own spectacle. The first minor league hockey game to be played in the elements was also in Salt City, with the Crunch taking on the Binghamton Senators at the New York State Fairgrounds.
21,508 came to the first AHL Outdoor Classic to witness a 2-1 Syracuse victory – an AHL attendance record at the time – and many more eyes tuned in at home on NHL Network, which carried the game nationally. It was a major gambit for the Crunch to make, as they had to secure nearly $1 million to finance the event themselves, without assistance from the league. They got it done though, and it left them with even higher aspirations.
That brings us to June 11, 2024, when the “Hockey Extravaganza”, as Crunch owner Howard Dolgon called it, was announced. In addition to the Crunch and Comets facing each other, the Dome ice would also host a DIII college game between Oswego State and Utica College, and a charity match between Syracuse and Utica law enforcement. The main event had one goal in mind – break the attendance record again.
To do so, first there needed to be a rink. With limited time to get set up following a Syracuse men’s basketball game, the Dome operations and Crunch ice crews wasted none of it:
The effort, though, was once again worth it. The AHL record was set to be shattered – and tickets kept on selling, to the point where even the American indoor record (28,183), held by the Tampa Bay Lightning, was not safe.
By the time the boards were up, there was no doubt.
“When I walked back in the building, the hair just stands up on the back of your neck,” SU Chief Facilities Manager Pete Sala said at the time. “This is big time, this is professional hockey… we’re going to (beat) two records, the NHL record and the AHL record, in one event. How exciting is that?”
The excitement lasted well after the 30-thousand strong crowd filed in, past the Crunch taking the ice in special Orange-accented jerseys, past the opening puck drop, peaking twice when a red light shined bright and the Syracuse football touchdown horn sounded off, signaling a Crunch goal. Just like the first special game they had played four years prior, a 2-1 score stood through the final buzzer.
After the clock hit zeros for the third and final time, Syracuse fans saw the same gesture that’d happened hundreds of times before in the Dome, yet was still a first here: the postgame handshake. And though this time there was no banner to hang in the rafters – not for a player, a title, or even the Piano Man – it was not a day to soon be forgotten.
You can watch the Crunch and Comets continue their rivalry tonight at the War Memorial, with Syracuse wearing the same styled jerseys as they once did a decade ago. They’ll be auctioned off afterwards.