Junior A hockey will return to the ice in Alaska; however, the regular season return of the Kenai River Brown Bears and the Fairbanks Ice dogs has been pushed back to mid-April.
The Kenai River Brown Bears have released an amended regular season schedule which now includes an April 16th home opener against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. The Brown Bears and Ice Dogs will play a two-game series at the SRSC. The return to Alaska has been set-back from an earlier mid-January, then March, then April 9th opener.
Brown Bears General Manager Chris Hedlund stated, ” “We are excited to see the team return to the Peninsula and play in front of our home crowd. We have heard the fans are excited to have the team back and to cheer on the Brown Bears, and the players are excited to get the home ice advantage and play in front of the greatest fans in the league. The players have been resilient throughout this challenging environment, eagerly awaiting the announcement to get home to Alaska.”
The Brown Bears home contests will be conducted under mitigation measures established by the City of Soldotna, the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex and the NAHL.
The Soldotna City Council approved Resolution 2021-009 and approved updates to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex capacity limits and mitigation measures. The resolution includes requirements and guidelines for expanding the spectator capacity (under 6-feet social distancing) to 750 spectators for the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. All persons entering the building are required to wear masks at all times, except athletes and officials when they are on the ice. Coaches must wear masks at all times, even when on the ice. By definition, on the ice includes penalty benches and team benches.
Nate Kiel, Brown Bears President explained that the Brown Bears and the entire NAHL has been operating under strict covid mandates throughout the regular season.
The scheduled home-opener will match the Brown Bears against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on April 16th at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. The Brown Bears Alaska swing will include only three home weekends and a regular season-ending road weekend in Fairbanks.
Anchorage Announces Formation Of NAHL Team
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) has announced that its Board of Governors has approved the formation of an Anchorage-based NAHL team for the 2021-22 Junior hockey season.
The Anchorage Wolverines will compete in the Midwest Division joining the Kenai River Brown Bears and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Anchorage ventured into the NAHL in the late 2000’s with the Wasilla Spirit moving to Anchorage; however, the team relocated back to Wasilla and in 2021-13 relocated to Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Link to NAHL press release on Anchorage Wolverines: Click Here
