The Wild released their 2010 schedule Tuesday and will face a familiar foe to start the season, opening against the Fairbanks Grizzlies at Sullivan Arena.
It will be the third consecutive season the teams play in the opener and the game could be a harbinger of things to come. In 2008 the Wild hammered the Grizzlies 88-12 in the opener and went on to post a franchise-best 6-8 regular-season mark that culminated with a playoff berth.
In last year's opener the Grizzlies pulled out a 54-35 victory that propelled the team to a 7-7 overall mark and the first playoff win for an Alaska team.
The 26-team Indoor Football League has two conferences -- the United and Intense -- and each conference is split into three division. The Wild compete in the Pacific North Division of the Intense Conference along with the Grizzlies, the Billings Outlaws, Tri-Cities Fever and Kent Predators.
The Kent organization was originally planning on playing out of Wasilla as the Valley Arctic Predators, but a disagreement between the franchise owners and their Valley-based coach eventually caused the team to move to the Seattle suburb.
The Wild's 14-game slate features four games against the Grizzlies. They will meet the Fever and Predators three times and Outlaws twice. They will travel for a out-of-division game at the Chicago Slaughter and will host the La Crosse Spartans, who are coached by former Green Bay Packer great Gilbert Brown.
The playoff format for the league, which has added nine new members this season, has not yet been set.
The Intense Conference also includes the Lonestar West Division (Abiliene, Amarillo, El Paso and Odessa) and Lonestar East Division (Arkansas, Austin, Corpus Christi and San Angelo). The United Conference is comprised of the Atlantic East Division (Maryland, Richmond, Rochester and West Michigan), the Central North Division (Bloomington, Chicago, Green Bay and La Crosse) and the Central West Division (Colorado, Omaha, Sioux City, Sioux Falls and Wichita).
The Wild, after going 0-14 last year, are under new ownership with Charles Matthews taking over the reigns of the organization. Darnell Lee is the team's new coach after leading the Louisiana Swashbucklers to a 60-14 record and three championships in five years in the National Indoor Football League, Intense Football League and the Southern Indoor Football League.
Wild's 2010 schedule
Feb. 28 Fairbanks at Alaska
March 8 Kent at Alaska
March 20 Alaska at Fairbanks
March 27 Alaska at Chicago
April 1 Fairbanks at Alaska
April 9 Alaska at Kent
April 17 Alaska at Billings
April 24 Alaska at Fairbanks
May 1 Alaska at Tri-Cities
May 16 Billings at Alaska
May 23 Tri-Cities at Alaska
May 30 La Crosse at Alaska
June 12 Alaska at Tri-Cities
June 19 Kent at Alaska
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