Fairbanks Ice Dogs


The Fairbanks Ice Dogs are a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Midwest Division. The Ice Dogs play home games at the 2,200-seat Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Ice Dogs are well known for their rivalry with the Wenatchee Wild when the Wild were in the NAHL.

History

Originally started in 1997 in the Tier III Junior B Western States Hockey League as a hockey program to replace the Alaska Gold Kings and give Alaskan players a chance to play after they finished high school and/or midgets. The Ice Dogs won the Northern Division its inaugural season, but lost to the Southern champs the following year in exhibition games. In 1998–99 season, they again won the Northern Division but lost to the Southern Division champions, the Ventura Mariners.
In 2000, the Ice Dogs became a member of the Tier III Junior B Northern Pacific Hockey League and also played sixteen games in the Tier III Junior A America West Hockey League to help fill out their schedule in the 2000–01 season. The team would go on to win the NorPac championship in that season before leaving for the higher level AWHL full-time for the 2001–02 season.
The Ice Dogs were named the 2001–02 AWHL Organization of the Year in their first full Junior A season. The team moved to the NAHL in the AWHL-NAHL merger that took place in 2003. The Ice Dogs were upset in the West Division Finals in the 2008–09 season after winning the West Division regular season title. The Ice Dogs lost in the 2010 Robertson Cup final to the Bismarck Bobcats 3-0. The following season the Ice Dogs won the Robertson Cup for the first time in a come from behind win over the Michigan Warriors 4-2. In the 2013–14 season, the Ice Dogs once more won the West Division regular season title and proceeded to win the Robertson Cup for the second time.

Season-by-season records

Playoffs