Several games across the BCHL through the regular season topped Tuesday’s mark, thanks in large part to the Vernon Vipers.
The central-Interior team sold between 2,646 and 2,809 tickets in four different games entertaining Salmon Arm, while games against Cranbrook were also very popular with fans.
Vernon occupied 10 of the top 11 spots in BCHL single-game attendance this season, with the lone outlier being a Family Day matchup in Chilliwack against the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs, where 2,407 fans were at Chilliwack Coliseum.
Prior to Tuesday night, the Clippers’ highest attendance this season and in the playoffs was against Alberni Valley on Jan. 30, where 1,919 fans watched on.
Tuesday’s attendance was the fourth biggest single-game crowd for the Clippers since the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowly behind game three against Penticton in the 2022 final series, where 2,332 fans watched on.
The highest post-COVID crowd remains a school-day game on Nov. 2, 2023, where 2,552 elementary school students, teachers, and some fans cheered the Clippers on at an 11 a.m. puck drop.
Nanaimo also saw 2,508 fans for a Jan. 13, 2023 game hosting Surrey, and 2,211 fans taking in a game against the Grizzlies on Jan. 12, 2024.
A Feb. 18, 2011 game had the highest attendance in recent history, where the Clippers closed the regular season against Alberni Valley in front of 2,799 Clipper and Bulldog faithful.
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