Questions about whether a city the size of Utica could support an AHL hockey team have been answered.

Based on attendance numbers for the Utica Comets' inaugural season, its clear there are enough hockey fans in the city and the surrounding communities to support professional hockey - and the Utica College hockey program, too, for that matter.

According to numbers from TheAHL.com, attendance for the Comets' 38 home games topped 130,500 - with an average of 3,435 per game at the Utica AUD.

That puts Utica in the bottom third of the league in average attendance, but consider a sellout at the AUD is 3,815. Some AHL arenas can seat more than 10,000. Seating capacity was at 90% for an average Comets home game, with 17 sellouts.

Mark Caswell Jr., the Comets director of communications, joined First News with Keeler in the Morning on WIBX to recap the first season and the community's support: