ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - It was the premier ice center for hockey in Alaska for decades before the COVID-19 pandemic closed its doors to the public and it became a homeless shelter in recent years.

Now, the doors to the Sullivan Arena are opening up to hockey once again as the Anchorage Wolverines junior hockey program is set to skate into the 2024-25 season in the stadium that seats more than 6,000.

”The player amenities, just the locker room and where it’s located and the amenities it comes with, I think that just being able to just walk out into the rink ... just playing in this arena-type building is really cool for the guys,” Anchorage Wolverines head coach Nick Walters said. “I know our team behind the team here is doing their best job they possibly can. I know that the seats are going to filled, and so it is going to be a fun environment.”

Home to the ECHL-champion Alaska Aces for more than two decades, ‘The Sully’ was also the former home ice of the UAA Seawolves, dating back to 1983. It has also hosted some of the top musical acts to grace a stage in the state and hosted the famed Great Alaska Shootout featuring college basketball’s best.

Current Wolverines skater Camden Shasby grew up watching his father, Matt, carve the Sullivan Arena ice for the Aces.

”The vibes are great being back in the Sully,” Shasby said. “I have been here as a kid. It is pretty cool to be down here in the locker rooms because when my dad played here, I would be down here just buzzing back and forth. So, it is pretty awesome.”

Matt Shasby is also a UAA hockey alum and current head coach of the program.

When the Anchorage Wolverines were announced as a new hockey organization in 2021, the original plan was to play home games at the arena in Fairview. Those plans were nixed due to the pandemic when the Municipality of Anchorage chose to use the arena as a homeless shelter. The Wolverines moved into the Ben Boeke Ice Arena for its first three seasons, with a maximum attendance capacity of approximately 1,000 - far less than the Sullivan Arena could offer. In July, the team made the official announcement it would be moving into the Sullivan Arena going forward.

”It’s been home,” Wolverines head coach Nick Walters said of the Ben Boeke Ice Arena. “It was an electric home. It was a special environment, but that’s not to say that the Sully is not going to be special. It’s going to be a different kind of special, and everybody is really excited to get going over here.”

Two references to hockey inside the Sullivan in 2024 include a high school hockey game after an evacuation at Ben Boeke and an NHL Legends Tour game in April.

Ushering in a new era for the program and Anchorage hockey fans, the Wolverines will host the Kenai River Brown Bears for a two-game series this weekend for the first of 28 total games at the Sullivan.

Puck drop on Friday is at 7 p.m. and on Saturday 7:30 p.m. Kenai enters the matchup 7-2-1 while the Wolverines stand at 4-2-1 heading into the weekend.