Anchorage, Alaska |4/4/23 | Isaac Smoldon
After dropping two out of three games this past weekend to the Chippewa Steel, the Anchorage Wolverines remain on the outside of the playoff picture but still control their own destiny with four games left in the regular season. Anchorage plays the Kenai River Brown Bears in four straight games to end the year, twice this upcoming weekend at the Ben, and twice at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex the following weekend.
The road to the playoffs will not be easy for the Wolverines. Currently they are four points behind Kenai River, who is the only team that they could pass to secure a playoff spot. This means they must pick up a minimum of seven points against the Brown Bears in the next four games, while allowing Kenai River no more than two, due to the first tiebreaker for playoff entry being games won in the regular season. The Brown Bears currently boast 30 wins to Anchorage’s 26.
All this means that the Wolverines can afford to lose only one game out of their remaining four, and they must force overtime in that loss. All three wins needed must be in regulation. While challenging, this is not out of the realm of possibility for Anchorage. They have lost just one game to Kenai River in regulation this year, and have a record of 5-1-2 against the Brown Bears this season. The Wolverines have actually already accomplished this feat earlier in their schedule, when they played Kenai River four games back-to-back in early December and picked up seven points to the Brown Bears two.
In addition, Anchorage has a chance to win the Club 49 cup this weekend as they sit eight points ahead of Kenai River in the standings. Thanks to the split between the Brown Bears and Ice Dogs last weekend, the Wolverines need just one win in their reaming four games to secure hockey supremacy in the battle between all three Alaskan NAHL teams against one another.
No games are more important to Anchorage this season than the two taking place this Friday and Saturday. Both contests begin at 7 p.m. AKDT. Tickets are available now at tickets.anchoragewolverines.com, or as always both games can be viewed exclusively on HockeyTV.
For any questions or media availability, please contact Isaac Smoldon at live@anchoragewolverines.com.
The Anchorage Wolverines are a tier-II USA Hockey Jr. Hockey team competing in the North American Hockey League. The Wolverines are owned by Marissa Flannery and Aaron Schutt, Jena and Jay Frawner, and Kari and John Ellsworth, Jr.
