When the MK Lightning called on supporters to pack out the Thunderdome for their table-topping clash with Guildford Flames last weekend, they probably would never have imagined the sheer wall of noise that would greet them as they skated out for the face-off. Over 1,500 supporters packed into the Planet Ice Arena on Saturday evening to see Lightning attempt to wrest the league top spot from Paul Dixon’s side.

When the previous weekend's results promoted them to second in the EPL table, Lightning swung into action to drum up what they hoped would be the biggest crowd of the season - and ended up with their biggest in several years.

The club used social networking site "Twitter", adding the hashtag "MKLbringabuddy" on Tweets last week – and retweets from Absolute Radio’s Russ Williams and NHL-drafted player Mika Zibenajad – brother of former Lightning skater Monir Kalgoum – sent news of the fixture to a total of almost 9,000 followers. The club also reminded supporters daily of ticket office opening hours via their Facebook page, encouraging discounted advance ticket sales so supporters could avoid queuing on the night. Team captain Adam Carr and assistant coach Lewis Clifford joined a local radio sports show last Wednesday evening, talking about the club's recent progress towards the top of the EPL table and drumming up publicity for the weekend's big game.

In the event, despite making their visitors work for every second of the 60 minutes' play, Lightning lost 5-6, but players and management were keen to praise their supporters for the huge turnout. “It was an amazing night, and when we saw the number of people there just before face-off, we were almost speechless”, said General Manager Vito Rausa. “Our backroom team started promoting the game straight after the previous week’s win, and the response from our supporters was phenomenal.”

Fans’ favourite Grant McPherson said the attendance had definitely helped buoy the team that evening: “When we come out of the dressing room the lights are out, then they come back on when we skate onto the ice – that’s when it hit me just how many people there were! It definitely gives you a boost when there are so many people shouting for you.”.

Adam Carr said, “The atmosphere was absolutely fantastic - hopefully any newcomers to the game really enjoyed themselves, it would be great if we can keep getting big, noisy crowds like that for the rest of the year, to help us push for that league title that we all want to win”.

“We want to thank every single person who came along on Saturday”, said Lewis Clifford. “Although the result on the ice wasn’t what we wanted, the result off the ice proved just how loyal our fans are – and we want to repay their loyalty and dedication with a win on home ice this Saturday against Sheffield Steeldogs.”

Vito Rausa concluded by saying, “Everyone knows about MK Dons but a lot of people still don’t know that the town has one of the country’s top ice hockey teams. We hope the huge attendance last week went some way to spreading the word but we’ll be continuing our efforts to raise the profile of ice hockey and Lightning. If you haven’t seen the Lightning play, you don’t know what you’re missing!”

Lightning’s next home game is against Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday 21 January at the Planet Ice Arena at 7pm.