A crowd of 30,715 packed the Carrier Dome for an AHL game. (Dave Kliment)
A crowd of 30,715 packed the Carrier Dome for an AHL game. (Dave Kliment)

The Syracuse Crunch welcomed the Utica Comets to a regular-season American Hockey League game unlike any other. In an attempt to break the record for attendance at an indoor hockey game, the Crunch, affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, hosted the Comets, affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, inside Syracuse's vast Carrier Dome as part of the Frozen Dome Classic.

So how did they do? The announced attendance of 30,715 broke the US record for an indoor professional hockey game.

The Crunch sent the fans home happy, too, with a 2-1 win over the Comets. It got awfully loud in there.

The 30,715 broke the previous record for indoor professional hockey, set in 1996 when the Lightning hosted the Philadelphia Flyers at Tropicana Field. The Syracuse game also now ranks as the second-most attended AHL game in history. That record still belongs to Citizens Bank Park, which hosted 45,653 spectators for an outdoor game between the Adirondack Phantoms and Hershey Bears.

Here's what it looked (and sounded like) as the Crunch held on to the 2-1 win:

Also, in a nice touch, the Crunch warmed up with replica Cincinnati Bengals jerseys in support of Bengals player Devon Still and his daughter Leah, who has been battling cancer. The Crunch auctioned those jerseys off to support the local Ronald McDonald House in Syracuse.

Among other events surrounding the hockey game: Former Jackass star Steve-O was on hand to perform a stunt; also, Janine Stange, known as "The National Anthem Girl" for performing the anthem in all 50 states, sang the Star-Spangled Banner before the game.