JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When you win games the fans show up and lately they've been turning out in droves to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena to cheer on the first-place Icemen.
12,563 fans showed up for Saturday night's win over the Railers, which was the third-largest game attendance in the ECHL this season.
The Icemen actually had over 21,000 fans combined show up for Friday and Saturday night's games and even before that the team says their attendance was on the rise.
Icemen President Bob Ohrablo says the Icemen are averaging close to 8,000 fans per home game, which has made them one of the top teams in the ECHL when it comes to attendance.
He and the players say it's great to see the seats fill up and they really feed off of the fans' energy.
"Hey we're not in first place for no reason at all and the fans are a key part of that. When we recruit players throughout the summer we have so much to talk about but the fans and the fact the seats are full all the time that really drives players here," Ohrablo said.
"When that rink's full and fans are cheering it just pumps us up even more and makes us wanna win. It's just a great atmosphere and it's great to play in front of the fans and it's just been an awesome year so far," Icemen forward Ara Nazarian said.
