The New Mexico Ice Wolves are a
Tier II junior ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team in the
North American Hockey League
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 48th season of operation in 2022–23. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...
's South Division. The Wolves play their home games in the Outpost Ice Arenas in
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
.
History
On February 28, 2019, the NAHL board of governors announced that they had approved the membership application for a team in New Mexico owned by Desert Ice Investment, LLC and that the team would start play in the 2019–20 season as a member of the South Division. Their inaugural season was cut short due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, but the team had already been eliminated from playoff contention with 31 points in 52 games played. The team still won several postseason accolades such as Southern Division Organization of the Year and the NAHL's overall Organization of the Year. The following season, the team was forced to play home games in Texas due to the pandemic restrictions in New Mexico.
In 2022, the Ice Wolves added a Tier III junior team of the same name in the
North American 3 Hockey League
The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Junior ice hockey#Tier III, Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, M ...
(NA3HL).
Season-by-season records
References
External links
New Mexico Ice Wolves websiteNAHL website
North American Hockey League teams
North American Hockey League
Ice hockey teams in New Mexico
Sports in Albuquerque, New Mexico
2019 establishments in New Mexico
Ice hockey clubs established in 2019
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