text: Bears Prepare for Seasons Final Home Stand | Kenai River Brown Bears
  March 9, 2010 August 17, 2016
  BROWN BEARS RETURN FROM ROAD TRIP – PREPARE FOR HOME STAND!
  The Bears started their recent road trip with a 3-game stint against the very potent Wenatchee Wild. \"Game one went against us right from the start. It was a rare evening for us as a team\" Coach David said. The 10-2 final would prove to be just a glitch.
  The next evening, the Bears came out hard. \"We were on the verge of heading into the 3rd period of game 2 down a goal. However, just before period\'s end, we lost a step, didn\'t pick-up a back-check assignment, unfortunately having to start the 3rd period down two.\" coach said. \"We competed very strongly and dominated at times-possessing the puck and creating offensively. \"This league is highly competitive. I have stressed habit building and being aware of the components of each shift all year long. With the experience our team is having, I have great confidence that our group is understanding that each moment is worth paying attention to, and that games like tonight can go either way, and usually go to the team who executes better\" coach added. The Bears dropped the contest 4-2, but made strides that showed the next night.
  In game 3 the bears were sharp. \"We gave our best performance of the series\" coach said. \"Our power play has been operating very well. I would venture to say that since returning from break, we may have had the most success on the PP league wide\" David added. The Bears ended regulation ties with the Wild 3-3 headed to OT. The score would stand. Unfortunately, despite a great performance by Mike Martin in net, we lost to the last shooter of the night for the Wild. \"We earned a big point tonight\" Coach David said. \"Great effort by our group.\" The bears ended the series with the Wild with an OT loss 4-3.
  Next Up, the team traveled to Minnesota for a two game series vs. the Owatonna Express and a single match-up against The Albert Lea Thunder. \"I have said all year that we play in arguably the toughest division in the NAHL. Game one vs the Express, we didn\'t know what to expect\" coach said. \"The game seemed slower than usual to all of us despite the Express being a speedy team.\" For the second game in a row the Bears headed to OT with a 3-3 tie. \"On the road, to earn a point two nights in a row is great. I was very pleased with the team.\" Coach added. Unfortunately, the Bears fell in OT again although Mike Martin turned away over 40 shots in a 4-3 loss.
  With a two-day break, the Bears headed to St. Mary\'s University in Winona, MN to train. \"We have a great relationship with Coach Bill Moore of SMU and wanted to use the opportunity of being in Minnesota to have our boys tour a university campus\" Coach David said. \"several of our boys are being highly recruited by Coach Moore and this gave them a chance to experience the school fist hand\" coach added. \"We met with the Dean of Admissions and discussed all the ways to receive financial aid and other pertinent information. The classy staff that they are, most of it was geared not towards them, or selling their program, but helping all of our players become familiar with what it is going to take to be a student-athlete at the college level\" coach added.
  Next The Bears headed back to Owatonna for Game 2. This time the Bear\'s work finally paid off! \"We had been making progress all week\" coach said. \'It was just a matter of time before we would be able to earn 2 points\" coach added. The Bears never trailed. \"Our Power Play lifted us to victory. It\'s pretty cool to watch the boys work.\" coach said.
  Final score 4-3 Bears Win!
  Twenty-four hours later the Bears faced a surging Albert Lea Thunder team that won the night before 5-2 against the North Iowa Outlaws. \"Again, we don\'t play this division much, so we didn\'t know what to expect\" coach said. \"There was no way we were going to under estimate a team in this league. Although the Thunder haven\'t won many games, they are in the hunt for a play-off birth.\" coach added.
  The Thunder proved to be hungry. Although the bears came out dominating in the first half of the first period going up 2-0 on two goals by Josh Royston, they were unable to hold off the Thunder, eventually falling short by the score of 4-3. \"Tonight was the third game in a row the socreboard read 4-3. I\'d say we made progress throughout the road trip. We would\'ve loved to snag two points against the Thunder, but that didn\'t happen\" coach added.
  All in all the Bears Grabbed four of a possible twelve points on the road. \"We fell short, in OT twice, and fought hard in another game. A few bounces here or there and we return home above .500 on the road\" coach said. \"We are right there\" he added.