Alaska News

Fate of Alaska Aces undecided, co-owner says

The Alaska Aces hockey team is examining its future but has not made a decision whether it will play beyond this year, a co-owner said Friday night in response to a televised report that the team may go out of business.

"The ownership group has been wrestling for quite some time with what our future holds, just due to the economic situation in Alaska," co-owner Jerry Mackie said.

"As soon as we have made a decision, we'll release something, and the announcement will come from the ownership group and not from some anonymous source."

KTVA-Channel 11, citing unnamed sources, said the Aces were considering ceasing operations at the end of this season.

Mackie, part of a five-man ownership group, said neither the Aces nor the ECHL has made a decision "with regards to our status for next season."

The only professional sports team in Alaska, the Aces have endured declining attendance at Sullivan Arena in recent years, although they continue to draw crowds larger than any other team in the state.

Attendance peaked in the 2006-07 season, when the Aces averaged 5,152 fans per game in the wake of their 2006 ECHL Kelly Cup championship. The Aces own an ECHL record-tying three Kelly Cups, with other titles coming in 2011 and 2014.

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Alaska has failed to make the playoffs since the 2014 championship, and attendance has declined since then. This season's team is averaging 3,386 per game, according to ECHL attendance figures.

Mackie is part of an ownership group that bought the Aces out of bankruptcy in 2002. The team quickly became a powerhouse in the ECHL, a 27-team league that is two steps below the NHL.

Known originally as the Anchorage Aces, the team played its first full season in 1990-91. They won the Senior Men's Open National Championship national title in their debut season.

The Aces went pro in 1995 as a member of the West Coast Hockey League, which eventually became part of the ECHL.

In 2002, then-owner Mike Cusack Jr., facing financial troubles, tried to sell the team on eBay for a minimum bid of $1.5 million. Cusack later was forced into bankruptcy court, and the team was purchased by the current owners later in 2002. The following year, owners rebranded the team as the Alaska Aces.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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