Looking to go bigger, Anchorage Wolverines try to grow on their success in first season at Sullivan Arena

Coming on the heels of a season that saw them advance to the Robertson Cup semifinals, the Anchorage Wolverines are looking to go bigger this season.

The first step in that growth came over the summer, as the fourth-year NAHL franchise announced it would play home games at Sullivan Arena, along with its larger capacity and Olympic-size ice sheet.

“The whole team is excited,” second-year forward Taisetsu Ushio said. “Last we played at (Ben Boeke Arena). Boeke was great, the fans were unreal, but this year we get to play at Sullivan. Bigger ice, more of a crowd and Anchorage people love hockey, so we can’t wait to get started.”

The team expects to be able to hold anywhere between two and three times as many fans in Sullivan as it could at Boeke, where capacity is less than 1,000. The team will get its first chance to play in its new home on Friday, as the Wolverines host the Kenai River Brown Bears at 7 p.m.

“The guys are excited,” Wolverines head coach Nick Walters said. “It’s a good building. It’s a good situation and locker room for the players. Obviously Boeke was electric but could only hold a certain amount of people, so we’re excited to see the turnout on Friday.”

Ushio is one of a large group of talented returning players for the Wolverines. He had 39 points in 40 games last season and has already notched three goals in the early portion of this season. Other offensive returners include Cole Christian and Romulus Riego de Dios.

“Our expectation is that they take the roles of the guys that moved on last year,” Walters said. “So far they’ve answered the bell. It’s still early and we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves, but we like the way our group is shaping up early.”

While the offense has a number of returners. Walters is especially excited about the returning talent on the blue line. Camden Shasby, Jackson Stimple, Jack Darby, Brock Devlin and Drew Nelson all played last season.

“We have a lot of returning defensemen, which is really good for us,” Walters said. “It’s a strong defensive core with a couple new additions. ... We have D that can jump in the play. They all skate really well, so their ability to close downplays has been really good and then jump in on the offensive side of things.”

In goal, the Wolverines also have a returning player vying for playing time. Anchorage’s Vaughn Makar returns to the roster and is joined by Roberto Leonardo Henriquez.

“The goalies have to be your best players, day in and day out,” Walters said. “We’ve had a pretty good 1A/1B tandem so far and those two are competing every day. They both want to start. They both want games. They both want to own the net, which is a healthy thing for us and I think it only makes competition better in practice. And it’s only going to make them better.”

After reaching the Robertson Cup finals in their inaugural year, the Wolverines had another strong playoff run in 2023-24, falling in the Robertson Cup semis. The Wolverines also cleaned up on in-state competition, dominating the Brown Bears and Fairbanks Ice Dogs in securing the Club 49 Cup.

“Our goal is the Robbie Cup, but another big thing is winning that Club 49 Cup again,” Ushio said.

The series against Kenai River shifts to Soldotna on Saturday.