Alaska Aces The Alaska Aces are a minor league ice hockey team in Anchorage , Alaska . They were originally part of the West Coast Hockey League , but when the WCHL was absorbed by the East Coast Hockey League in 2003 , the team joined the merged ECHL . In 2005 , the Aces joined an affiliation with the St . Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League . The Aces official team mascot is Boomer , a polar bear . Aces fans are known for using small , ceremonial cow bells painted with the Aces insignia to show their support during games . Originally an amateur club known as the Anchorage Aces , they won the National Amateur Championship in 1993 and 1994 . They finished second in 1992 and 1995 . Anchorage was an original WCHL franchise , joining the league in 1995 . In 2002 , with financial troubles , the team was put up for sale on eBay . They were renamed the Alaska Aces in 2003 . The team gained national prominence in 2004 when it signed New Jersey Devils all - star and Alaska - born Scott Gomez after the NHL lockout , who went on to lead the ECHL in scoring and win league Most Valuable Player honors . Home games are played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage . The triple overtime win against Las Vegas Wranglers ( 2006 ) was the third longest game in ECHL history , 113 minutes , 30 seconds long . In 2006 , the Aces became only the second team in ECHL history ( joining the South Carolina Stingrays of Charleston , SC ) in winning both the Brabham Cup and Kelly Cup championships in the same season . ( In 2008 , the Cincinnati Cyclones became the third team to accomplish this feat . ) The Aces play in the West Division of the ECHL ' s National Conference . In 2006 , Alaska won the Kelly Cup title in five games over the Gwinnett Gladiators . This was the first professional sports title won by an Alaska team since 1980 . Mike Scott received the Kelly Cup MVP award after the Aces ' 4 - 3 win over the Gladiators in Game Five of the series . On October 4 , 2007 , the Aces announced a one - year affiliation extension with St . Louis and Peoria . In 2009 , the Aces stormed through the first three rounds of the Kelly Cup Playoffs , winning in five games against both the Utah Grizzlies and the Victoria Salmon Kings in the first two rounds , and sweeping the Las Vegas Wranglers in the National Conference Finals . They were in the Kelly Cup Finals for the first time since their championship season in 2006 , The ownership group of the team issued a press release on February 23 , 2017 stating that the team would cease operations at the end of the 2016 - 17 season . The league granted the team ' s request for a voluntary suspension of operations . Managing partner Terry Parks said in the release as a result of the economic downturn , sponsorships are down $ 600 , 000 , season ticket sales are down $ 262 , 000 and attendance is down about 1 , 500 spectators per game from just a couple seasons ago . The organization has lost more money this season than in the past two seasons combined . With thousands of job losses in Alaska and more likely to come , Parks says , the team expects this downward trend to continue . “ We are 100 percent convinced that this town can no longer generate the kind of revenue necessary to sustain a professional hockey team , ” History . Origin . Dennis Sorenson formed an Anchorage senior men ’ s ice hockey team , named Anchorage Aces , to compete against a local in - state team , the Fairbanks Gold Kings . The Aces played four unofficial games during in the 1989 – 90 season . During the 1990 – 1991 season , Keith Street led the team on a 22 - game schedule , which included 20 games against teams registered with USA Hockey . The 1990 – 1991 season ended with the Aces winning the Senior Men ' s Open National Championship held in Fairbanks . Pacific Northwest Hockey League . The Aces joined the Pacific Northwest Hockey League for the 1991 – 92 season , playing six of their home games at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage and eight at the Central Peninsula Sports Center in Soldotna . The Aces finished second in the PNHL with a 16 - 12 - 2 regular season record , and were the runners - up in the national USA Hockey tourney after a 0 - 4 - 1 tourney run . In the 1992 – 93 season , new head coach Mike Ashley led the Aces to a 19 - 3 - 0 regular season record . However , in the USA Hockey Senior Men ' s Open Tournament , the Aces finished second for the second year in a row after compiling a 4 - 1 record in the tourney , losing the tiebreaker to the Chicago Chargers . Ashley resigned following the season . For the 1993 – 94 season , Steve Gasparini took over as head coach , and led the Aces to a 22 - 9 - 1 regular season record . The Aces also won their second championship in the USA Hockey Senior Men ' s Open National Tournament with a 5 - 0 run highlighted by the 6 - 0 rout of the Fresno Falcons . In 1994 – 95 , the team went 27 - 9 and lost in the championship game to the Gold Kings . West Coast Hockey League . After an unsuccessful attempt to form a new Pacific Rim Hockey League , the Aces joined the new West Coast Hockey League for the 1995 – 96 season , and played in that league until 2003 . Mike Cusack Jr . became sole owner of the franchise following the 1995 - 1996 season . In the 1996 – 97 season , the Aces initially lost in the league playoffs to the Fresno Falcons three games to one . However , the WCHL commissioner determined that their 4 - 2 loss in game four would be changed to a 1 - 0 victory due to forfeit by the Fresno Falcons when they failed to meet the minimum roster requirement , because of injuries and suspensions . The Aces won the deciding fifth game 5 - 3 and advanced to the Taylor Cup finals . In the 2000 – 2001 season a new Director of Player Personnel / Assistant Coach , Stirling Wright , was brought in . The Aces finished in third place with a 34 - 30 - 4 record and advanced to the semifinals , only to be ousted by the Tacoma Sabercats in three games . In 2000 – 01 , Stirling Wright was instrumental in bringing in former NHL players when the Aces signed former NHL goalie Vincent Riendeau and right wing Kevin Brown . The Idaho Steelheads defeated the Aces 3 - 0 in the first round of the playoffs . In 2001 – 02 , the Aces hired Stirling Wright as the new GM . He then hired former NHL coach and player Butch Goring as their new head coach , and re - signed only four players from the previous season . The Aces signed five former NHL players : defenseman Jim Paek , goaltender Scott Bailey , wingers Todd Harkins and Daniel Goneau and center Clayton Beddoes . Clayton Beddoes retired just a few games into the season due to a previous shoulder injury . The Aces promoted a " Guaranteed Win Night " where if they lost the game , the fans in attendance would receive free Aces tickets . After a 10 - 18 - 4 start , Aces ' owner Mike Cusack fired Goring and VP of business operations Lou Corletto , and hired former head coach Poddubny . Shortly thereafter , general manager Stirling Wright stepped down due to his disapproval of the owner ' s decisions . The Aces went on to win only a few more games and the mass exodus of players soon followed after Wright left the team . The team itself was making a profit but the owner ' s other financial ventures continued to drain the team of its revenue . Much of the staff and players did not get paid on a regular basis . In May 2002 , Both Mike Cusack personally and his business properties including an Anchorage hotel and the Aces filed for bankruptcy ; according to the filing papers , the team was almost $ 2 million in debt . In June 2002 , the Aces were put up for sale on eBay . The club ' s owner , Cusack , accepted a $ 1 . 862 million bid from Duncan Harrison , owner of Alaskan Automotive Distributing in Anchorage , but U . S . Bankruptcy Court judge Donald MacDonald converted the Aces ' bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 , which allowed him to reject the Harrison bid . The club was eventually sold for $ 1 . 05 million to a seven - member group led by Terry Parks , a local investor , and Dan Coffey , a local businessman . Cusack ' s former hotel , known as the Northern Lights Hotel , was placed in receivership and currently sits empty . ECHL . The Aces joined the ECHL in 2003 , following a merger between the WCHL and the East Coast Hockey League . They were renamed the Alaska Aces after the league switch , and unveiled a new logo and new uniforms . Season - by - season record . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , OTL = Overtime losses , SOL = Shootout losses , Pts = Points , PCT = Winning percentage , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " .