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. However, after a fan fundraising effort, the Brown Bears applied to the NAHL for approval to reactivate in April 2017 and was approved.
Due to the travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brown Bears temporarily relocated home games to Breezy Point, Minnesota, for most of the 2020–21 season until mid-April 2021.
The 20-21 season marked the first season the Brown Bears won a playoff series, winning the divisional semifinals over the Janesville Jets.
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 of 6, South18th of 18, NAHLDid not qualify 2008–09 58 14 36 8 36 165 249 1350 4th of 4, West17th of 19, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 0–3 (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) 2009–10 58 12 40 6 30 144 247 1045 4th of 4, West19th of 19, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 0–3 (Wenatchee Wild) 2010–11 58 27 24 7 61 189 191 1076 4th of 6, West17th of 26, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 0–3 (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) 2011–12 60 31 25 4 66 186 189 894 4th of 6, West15th of 28, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 0–3 (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) 2012–13 60 29 25 6 64 139 224 1115 3rd of 4, West14th of 24, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 2–3 (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) 2013–14 60 28 24 8 64 164 178 1181 4th of 6, Midwest14th of 24, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 2–3 (Fairbanks Ice Dogs) 2014–15 60 16 42 2 34 132 244 963 5th of 5, Midwest24th of 24, NAHLDid not qualify 2015–16 60 4 51 5 13 109 232 1351 6th of 6, Midwest22nd of 22, NAHLDid not qualify 2016–17 60 12 46 2 26 121 233 1255 6th of 6, Midwest23rd of 24, NAHLDid not qualify 2017–18 60 18 38 4 40 153 238 1269 6th of 6, Midwest22nd of 23, NAHLDid not qualify 2018–19 60 23 31 6 52 139 174 1088 5th of 6, Midwest20th of 24, NAHLDid not qualify 2019–20 52 27 19 6 60 197 182 853 3rd of 6, Midwest13th of 26, NAHLPostseason cancelled 2020–21 48 22 24 2 46 155 168 787 4th of 5, Midwest20th of 23, NAHLWon Div. Semifinal series, 3–1 (Janesville Jets)Lost Div. Final series, 2–3 (Minnesota Magicians) 2021–22 60 14 41 5 33 147 256 1127 8th of 8, Midwest28th of 29, NAHLDid not qualify 2022–23 60 32 24 4 68 170 185 1095 3rd of 8, Midwest12th of 29, NAHLLost Div. Semifinal series, 0–3 (Minnesota Wilderness) 2023–24 60 20 34 6 46 171 232 931 8th of 8th Midwest27 of 32 NAHLDid not qualify 2024–25 59 21 30 8 50 159 216 988 7th of 8th Midwest27 of 35 NAHLDid not qualify
Head coaches 2007–2009: Mike Flanagan 2011–2013: Oliver David 2013–2016: Geoff Beauparlant 2016–2017: Jeff Worlton 2017–2019: Josh Petrich 2019: Dan Bogdan (interim) 2019–2021: Kevin Murdock 2021: Josh Dubinsky 2021–present: Taylor Shaw (interim) 2022–present: Taylor Shaw – https://www.kenairiverbrownbears.com/shaw-named-new-head-coach-as-brown-bears-announce-staff—″″
References
External links
NAHL website