Kenai River Brown Bears
Appearance
Kenai River Brown Bears | |
---|---|
File:Kenai River Brown Bears logo.png | |
City | Soldotna, Alaska |
League | North American Hockey League |
Division | Midwest |
Founded | 2007 |
Home arena | Soldotna Sports Center |
Colors | Brown |
Owner(s) | Kenai Peninsula Youth Foundation |
General manager | Chris Hedlund[1] |
Head coach | Kevin Murdock |
Franchise history | |
2007–present | Kenai River Brown Bears |
The Kenai River Brown Bears are a Tier II junior ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League based in Soldotna, Alaska. The team joined the North American Hockey League (NAHL) as an expansion team for the 2007–08 season, and since then has upgraded and added team-specific facilities to the 2,000 plus capacity Soldotna Sports Center it calls home.
On February 28, 2017, during a major slump in the Alaskan economy, years of team futility and increased travel costs, the Brown Bears announced it would cease operations at the end of the 2016–17 season.[2] However, after a fan fundraising effort, the Brown Bears applied to the NAHL for approval to reactivate in April 2017 and was approved.[3]
Season-by-season records
Season | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 | 58 | 12 | 38 | 8 | 32 | 144 | 257 | 1272 | 6th, South | Did not qualify |
2008–09 | 58 | 14 | 36 | 8 | 36 | 165 | 249 | 1350 | 4th, West | Lost in 1st Round |
2009–10 | 58 | 12 | 40 | 6 | 30 | 144 | 247 | 1045 | 4th, West | Lost in 1st Round |
2010–11 | 58 | 27 | 24 | 7 | 61 | 189 | 191 | 1076 | 4th, West | Lost Div. Semifinals |
2011–12 | 60 | 31 | 25 | 4 | 66 | 186 | 189 | 894 | 4th, West | Lost Div. Semifinals |
2012–13 | 60 | 29 | 25 | 6 | 64 | 139 | 224 | 1115 | 3rd, West | Lost Div. Semifinals |
2013–14 | 60 | 28 | 24 | 8 | 64 | 164 | 178 | 1181 | 4th, West | Lost Div. Semifinals |
2014–15 | 60 | 16 | 42 | 2 | 34 | 132 | 244 | 963 | 5th, West | Did not qualify |
2015–16 | 60 | 4 | 51 | 5 | 13 | 109 | 232 | 1351 | 6th of 6, Midwest Div. 22nd of 22, NAHL |
Did not qualify |
2016–17 | 60 | 12 | 46 | 2 | 26 | 121 | 233 | 1255 | 6th of 6, Midwest Div. 23rd of 24, NAHL |
Did not qualify |
2017–18 | 60 | 18 | 38 | 4 | 40 | 153 | 238 | 1269 | 6th of 6, Midwest Div. 22nd of 23, NAHL |
Did not qualify |
2018–19 | 60 | 23 | 31 | 6 | 52 | 139 | 174 | 1088 | 5th of 6, Midwest Div. 20th of 24, NAHL |
Did not qualify |
2019–20 | 52 | 27 | 19 | 6 | 60 | 197 | 182 | 853 | 3rd of 6, Midwest Div. 13th of 26, NAHL |
Season cancelled |
Playoffs
- 2009
- First Round – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-0
- 2010
- First Round – Wenatchee Wild defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-0
- 2011
- Divisional Semifinals – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-0
- 2012
- Divisional Semifinals – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-0
- 2013
- Divisional Semifinals – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-2
- 2014
- Divisional Semifinals – Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated Kenai River Brown Bears 3-games-to-2
Head coaches
- 2007–2009: Mike Flanagan
- 2011–2013: Oliver David
- 2013–2016: Geoff Beauparlant
- 2016–2017: Jeff Worlton[4]
- 2017–2019: Josh Petrich
- 2019: Dan Bogdan (interim)[5]
- 2019–present: Kevin Murdock[6]
References
- ^ "Hedlund named GM of Brown Bears". NAHL. November 29, 2019.
- ^ "Brown Bears to cease operations next year". Peninsula Clarion. February 28, 2017.
- ^ "Brown Bears reactivated for next season". Peninsula Clarion. April 18, 2017.
- ^ "Kenai River announces coaching change". NAHL. January 12, 2016.
- ^ "Brown Bears announce coaching change". NAHL. February 11, 2019.
- ^ "Brown Bears name Murdock as head coach". NAHL. April 11, 2019.
External links