Kenai River Brown Bears

Kenai River Brown Bears
City:	Soldotna, Alaska
League:	NAHL
Division:	West
Founded:	2007
Home Arena:	Soldotna Sports Center
Colors:	Green, Red, and Black
Owner(s):	Barry Schoenly
General Manager:	Nate Kiel
Head Coach:	Josh Petrich (2017-18)
Franchise history
2007-Present:	Kenai River Brown Bears

The Kenai River Brown Bears is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's West Division based in Soldotna, Alaska. The team joined the NAHL as an expansion team for the 2007-08 season, the team plays their home games at the 2,000-seat Soldotna Sports Center.

Future of Organization

Multiple published reports have the team moving to Wausau, Wisconsin after the 2016-17 season ends, as the team is reportedly deep in debt due to a financial crisis in the state of Alaska.  Some reports stated that the Fairbanks Ice Dogs organization had been helping the team out financially to keep them afloat as a team in Fairbanks would be less viable without a travel/scheduling partner.  Teams from Alaska have traditionally had to subsidize visiting teams travel expenses to stay in the continental U.S. based leagues they have played in. Other teams in the state have had their existence threatened such as the NCAA Division I Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves and the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks who were on the chopping block when the schools cut other athletic programs to keep the hockey teams going. The Alaska Aces of the ECHL announced in late February 2017 that the team was suspending operations due to the dire economic conditions in the state, which had caused many sponsorship agreements and season tickets not to be renewed with a decline in revenue of over $900,000 US.  The team requested and received approval to suspend operations from the league late in the 2016-17 season. The team apparently put together a fund raising effort which raised $300,000 and netted 300 season ticket applications out of their 500 ticket goal.  The team received approval for reactivation at a conference call meeting held on April 18, 2017.  Along with the renewal of the Kenai River franchise interest has been heating up on the Anchorage market as well since the announced folding of the ECHL team as it would make the other two Alaska teams long term survival more viable. The Anchorage Wolverines would be added to the league as an expansion team for the 2021-22 NAHL season.<ref>http://nahl.com/news/story.cfm?id=31385<ref>

Season-by-season records

Season	GP	W	L	OL	SL	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 First Round, 0-3 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2009–10	58	12	40	6	-	30	144	247	1045	4th, West	Lost First Round, 0-3 Wenatchee Wild
2010–11	58	27	24	7	-	61	189	191	1076	4th, West	Lost Div Semifinals, 0-3 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2011–12	60	31	25	4	-	66	186	189	894	4th, West	Lost Div Semifinals, 0-3 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2012–13	60	29	25	6	-	64	139	224	1115	3rd, West	Lost Div Semifinals, 0-3 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
2013–14	60	28	24	8	-	64	164	178	1181	4th, West	Lost Div Semifinals, 2-3 Fairbanks Ice Dogs
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	Did not qualify
2016–17	60	12	46	2	0	26	121	233	1255	6th of 6, Midwest	Did not qualify
2017-18	60	18	38	1	3	40	153	238	1269	6th of 6, Midwest	Did not qualify
2018-19	60	23	31	3	3	52	139	174	-	5th of 6, Midwest	Did not qualify
2019-20	52	27	19	3	3	60	197	182	-	3rd of 6, Midwest	playoffs cancelled
2020-21	48	22	24	1	1	46	155	168	787	4th of 5, Midwest	Won Div Semifinal, 3-1 Janesville Jets Lost Div Final, 2-3 Minnesota Magicians
2021-22	60	14	41	3	2	33	147	256	-	8th of 8, Midwest	Did not qualify
2022-23	60	32	34	3	1	68	170	185	-	3rd of 8, Midwest	Lost Div Semifinals 0-3 Minnesota Wilderness
2023-24	60	20	34	4	2	46	171	232	-	8th Midwest	Did not qualify

External links

• Official site
• NAHL website