Heading into the New Year’s weekend, the Kenai River Brown Bears stand in a tie with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for second place in the Midwest Division of the North American Hockey League with a weekend series against the Wisconsin Windigo scheduled for December 30th and 31st at the Eagle River Sports Arena in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
Kenai River recorded a pair of road victories before Christmas with wins over the Chippewa Steel 5-3 and 5-1, improving the Brown Bears season record to 18-12-1-0.
In the Club 49 Cup Standings, Kenai River still holds the third position with 7 points; the Anchorage Wolverines top the standings with 17 points and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs stand at 9 points. Kenai River stands at 3-3 against the Wolverines and 0-2 against the Ice Dogs.
Midwest Division Standings (as of Nov. 8)
Teams Games Wins Loss OTL SOL Total
| 1 | MN Wilderness | 31 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 39 |
| 2 | Kenai River Brown Bears | 31 | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 37 |
| 3 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 31 | 17 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 37 |
| 4 | Chippewa Steel | 30 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 34 |
| 5 | Janesville Jets | 30 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 33 |
| 6 | Anchorage Wolverines | 30 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 32 |
| 7 | Wisconsin Windigo | 29 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 30 |
| 8 | Springfield Jr. Blues | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
