The North American Hockey League released its schedule for the 2014-15 season Friday, marking the earliest release of the schedule in the modern NAHL era.
For the Kenai River Brown Bears, the schedule is very similar to last season.
The schedule for the Midwest Division is still very unbalanced. The Midwest has five teams and the top four make the playoffs.
The Bears play the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, the defending Robertson Cup champions, 16 times. Elsewhere in the division, the Bears play the Coulee Region (Wisconsin) Chill six times, the Minnesota Wilderness four times and the Minnesota Magicians four times.
The Wenatchee (Washington) Wild are no longer in the Midwest Division, but the Bears still face off against the perennial Robertson Cup contenders 10 times.
The Bears also have home-and-away, out-of-division matchups with the Minot (North Dakota) Minotauros, the Bismarck (North Dakota) Bobcats, the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Tomahawks and the Keystone (Pennsylvania) Ice Miners.
The schedule is rounded out by four games at the NAHL Showcase.
On the financial side of things, the Bears make four trips to the Lower 48, including one trip of just three games to Wenatchee.
The other trips are 11 games, six games and four games.
Of the 28 home dates for the Bears, all but three are on Friday and Saturday nights, which are the nights when the Bears do best at the box office.
Brown Bears 2014-15 schedule
September: 12 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 13 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 17 — at Showcase; 18 — at Showcase; 19 — at Showcase; 20 — at Showcase; 26 — at Minnesota Magicians; 27 — at Minnesota Magicians.
October: 3 — vs. Minot Minotauros; 5 — vs. Minotauros; 10 — vs. Bismarck Bobcats; 11 — vs. Bismarck Bobcats; 24 — vs. Minnesota Wilderness; 25 — vs. Minnesota Wilderness; 31 — at Wenatchee Wild.
November: 1 — at Wenatchee Wild; 2 — at Wenatchee Wild; 7 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 8 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 14 — vs. Minnesota Magicians; 15 — vs. Minnesota Magicians; 21 — vs. Wenatchee Wild; 22 — vs. Wenatchee Wild; 28 — at Wenatchee Wild; 29 — at Wenatchee Wild.
December: 3 — at Coulee Region Chill; 5 — at Coulee Region Chill; 6 — at Coulee Region Chill; 11 — at Minnesota Wilderness; 13 — at Minnesota Wilderness; 30 — at Keystone Ice Miners; 31 — at Keystone Ice Miners.
January — 2 — at Johnstown Tomahawks; 3 — at Johnstown Tomahawks; 9 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 10 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 16 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 17 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 23 — vs. Coulee Region Chill; 24 — vs. Coulee Region Chill; 25 — vs. Coulee Region Chill; 29 — vs. Wenatchee Wild; 30 — vs. Wenatchee Wild; 31 — vs. Wenatchee Wild.
February: 6 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 7 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 13 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 14 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 20 — vs. Johnstown Tomahawks; 21 — vs. Johntown Tomahawks; 27 — vs. Keystone Ice Miners; 28 — vs. Keystone Ice Miners.
March: 6 — at Bismarck Bobcats; 7 — at Bismarck Bobcats; 13 — at Minot Minotauros; 14 — at Minot Minotauros; 20 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 21 — vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 27 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs; 28 — at Fairbanks Ice Dogs
