The Abbotsford Canucks historic Calder Cup championship run also led to franchise record-breaking attendance numbers.
The club's two month playoff run saw them average 6,136 fans over the 13 postseason games, including setting a new Abbotsford Centre record for hockey when they jammed in 7,470 for game five of the Calder Cup Finals vs. the Charlotte Checkers on June 21.
The record was actually initially broken in game four of the Calder Cup Finals on June 19, which saw 7,161 pack the AC. Those two games broke the previous record, which was a reported 7,081 in a regular season game against the Calgary Wranglers on Jan. 21, 2023.
Examining the numbers during the playoff run shows that fans were initially a little reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. Game one of the first round series against the Tucson Roadrunners saw just 3,760 in the building – which was below the regular season average. The first round series drew an average of 4,487 for the three games.
Fans started building the momentum in the Pacific Division semifinal round against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as those two games averaged 5,912. The game four win on May 9, which was also the series clincher, saw what was a season-high (up to that point) of 6,502.
Numbers continued to rise for the Pacific Division final against the Colorado Eagles, which drew an average of 6,559 to those two home games. Game two of that series on May 18 saw another season-high set of 6,960.
The Western Conference final series against the Texas Stars witnessed the AC crest 7,000 for the first time since that aforementioned Calgary game in 2023. Game two on May 31 saw a reported crowd of 7,050. The series overall drew an average of 6,558 over the three home games.
Attendance then swelled for the Calder Cup Finals, with every game drawing over 7,000 and an average of 7,228 over those three home games. The Canucks drew a total of 79,761 fans over the entire playoff run.
The team's playoff numbers were a bit of a contrast to the 2024-25 regular season numbers, which were the lowest in franchise history at 4,152.
That number is lower than the team's inaugural season, which reached 4,292 – but that season was also played at half capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Abbotsford had two regular season games over 6,000 – Jan. 11, 2025 vs. the Henderson Silver Knights (6,005) and April 5, 2025 vs. the Laval Rocket (6,022). The Jan. 11 game was promoted as Vancouver Canucks Night and the Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens' affiliate) are traditionally a big draw in Abbotsford.
The team also had five games with less than 3,000 fans (Oct. 29 vs. Tucson Roadrunners – 2,896, Oct. 30 vs. Tucson – 2,793, Feb. 11 vs. San Diego Gulls – 2,916, Feb. 12 vs. San Diego – 2,820 and March 11 vs. Bakersfield Condors – 2,228), however all of those games were on a Tuesday or Wednesday – which are usually a more challenging day to draw fans.
The final regular season home game of the season on April 12, which was fan appreciation night, also had a strong crowd of 5,966. Abbotsford's home opener vs. San Diego on Oct. 25 was the lowest in non-pandemic team history at just 4,638.
Saturday was the most popular day of the week for fans and had the top four highest attendance, but the team's Family Day game on Monday, Feb. 17 also had a good number at 5,686.
The Canucks ranked 24th in the 32-team AHL in attendance and sixth in the 10-team Pacific Division. They also ranked third amongst the six AHL Canadian teams. Laval (9,925) and Toronto (5,854) were the Canadian teams with higher attendance than Abbotsford.
The Cleveland Monsters once again led the AHL in average attendance with a number of 11,438. Laval was second and the Hershey Bears (9,744) were third. The top Pacific Division team was the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who ranked fifth overall at 7,905.
The final average of 4,152 means that the City of Abbotsford will once again not qualify for revenue sharing with the team. The contract between the two parties states that revenue sharing occurs if the team averages 5,000 or more during the regular season. The team has never averaged higher than 4,898 for one season.
