Yeah, when I worked for the Thunder I'd say well over 90% of the season ticket holders and regulars were Thunder fans who became hockey fans secondarily. Thing is AA hockey is generally played in areas where hockey is not a thing at all. There are some traditional hockey markets in the ECHL, there were none in the CHL, including Colorado.
I went to every single old school CHL arena, most more than once, the most knowledgeable fans were easily Wichita, OKC, and Colorado. Tulsa was apathetic, because their building was awful before the BOK Center. Bossier/Shreveport had the rowdiest fans, obnoxiously drunk and belligerent. No one else cared.