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The Anchorage Wolverines junior hockey team will make Ben Boeke Ice Arena its temporary home for three series in October and November.
The team hoped to open its inaugural season in the Tier II North American Hockey League at Sullivan Arena, which seats more than 6,000 for hockey.
But with the arena still in use as a homeless shelter, team officials moved their first seven home games next door to the smaller Ben Boeke arena, which has a capacity of about 1,000.
About 400 single-game tickets will be available, the team said Thursday. The rest of the seats will go to season ticket holders and sponsors.
“Barring any unforeseen changes, beer and alcohol will be for sale,” said Kari Ellsworth, the team’s director of marketing and communications.
The Wolverines are slated to open their home season Oct. 15-17 with a three-game series against the Springfield Jr. Blues of Illinois. The Janesville Jets of Wisconsin come to town for an Oct. 29-30 series, and the Kenai River Brown Bears will play two games at Ben Boeke on Nov. 12-13.
According to the NAHL schedule, Sullivan Arena is listed as the site for a Nov. 19-20 series between the Wolverines and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.
With Sullivan Arena unavailable, the Wolverines prepared for the season with practices at the Royal Business Systems Ice Center in south Anchorage. They played two exhibition games and two intrasquad scrimmage games there.
[Wolverines hockey team hits the road, which means coach Mike Aikens gets a family reunion]
The team is playing its first nine games on the road, including this week’s Friday-Saturday series against the Minnesota Magicians in Richfield, Minnesota. The Wolverines went 2-2 at last week’s NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota. The Magicians are 4-2.
Talon Sigurdson scored four goals in Anchorage’s first four games, fourth-most in the league. A 19-year-old from Sartell, Minnesota, Sigurdson scored three of his goals in a 4-3 season-opening loss to the El Paso Rhinos.
Shane Soderwall of Algonquin, Illinois -- who turned 19 on Thursday -- is among the early league leaders in goaltending. He’s one of seven goalies with a shutout, ranks 10th in save percentage (.932) and 12th in goals against average (1.92).