Is New Mexico ready for the return of professional hockey? The question will soon be answered. The New Mexico Pro Hockey Club will drop the puck as an ECHL expansion franchise beginning in the 2026-27 season, club officials confirmed this week.
New Mexico has had very little impact on ice hockey in the United States. As one of the most southern and most sparsely populated states (New Mexico didn't have 1 million residents until the 1960s.) New Mexico was largely ignored in ice hockey circles for 60 years after achieving statehood.
Let's delve into the history of hockey in New Mexico, from its early days to the exciting prospect of a new professional team.
Early Beginnings
The Albuquerque Ice Arena opened in 1948, hosting series between Colorado College and the Wichita Flyers and North Dakota and Michigan that November and December, respectively.
On February 26, 1949, an Albuquerque team composed of men from Sandia Base, Kirtland Field, and the Air National Guard faced Los Alamos at the Ice Arena, winning 8-1. They played another game on March 18, Albuquerque again winning, this time 11-2. The Albuquerque Hilltoppers and Los Alamos Rams played exhibition games in 1950.
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The following year, the Hilltoppers, Rams and Sandia Base All-Stars were active. The Sandia Mountain Hockey League was formed for the 1951-52 season. It was composed of the New Mexico Lobos college team, Los Alamos Rams, Kirtland Flyers, and Sandia Bombers.
There was no league play for 1953-54, but it returned for 1954-55, the Albuquerque Falcons replacing the Lobos. The Manzano Tigers took the place of Los Alamos for 1955-56. Manzano withdrew from the league after the 1957-58 season. Sandia became known as the Sandia Thunderbirds for 1959-60.
After a year-long hiatus, the league resumed play outdoors at the Speedway Park rink in 1962. The season was cut short when a heat wave melted the ice. Two exhibition games were played in Los Alamos in 1962-63.
On February 1, 1964, the Albuquerque Flyers were set to face the Ruidoso All-Stars. The Flyers were reported to have won six games from Los Alamos teams that winter. The Northern New Mexico Hockey League was organized at the Los Alamos rink for 1964-65.
The Los Alamos Rams tied the Albuquerque Flyers 8-8 on December 26. The Flyers beat the Rams in their next matchup, and on January 16, 1965, Los Alamos throttled the Las Vegas University Hawks 14-4. The following week, Albuquerque blasted Las Vegas 23-2. On January 30, the Rams beat the Hawks 10-5.
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The Salt Lake City Seagulls visited Los Alamos for two exhibition games on January 30/31, thumping Albuquerque 6-2 and Los Alamos 15-2. On February 6, Albuquerque walloped Las Vegas again, 15-4.
Professional and Junior Hockey Eras
A new indoor arena known as the Iceland Bowl opened in Albuquerque in 1965, and the New Mexico Hockey League began play in 1965-66. It was still in existence in 1973.
It wasn't until the mid-70s that the Central Hockey League took a chance and placed a team in the state. The Albuquerque Six-Guns debuted in 1973 at the Tingley Coliseum with the plan of having them serve as a farm team for the Kansas City Scouts.
However, because the Scouts would not begin play until the following year, the team was forced to build its roster from scratch. Unsurprisingly, the Six-Guns were the worst team in the CHL that year, winning just 16 of their 72 games.
The Albuquerque Six Guns spent the 1973-74 season in the Central Hockey League. The Albuquerque Chapparals were members of the Southwest Hockey League from 1975-1977.
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A second attempt at expanding ice hockey in the state wasn't made for 20 years. The vacuum ended in the mid-90s when the New Mexico Scorpions were founding members of the Western Professional Hockey League.
The New Mexico Scorpions played in the Western Professional Hockey League from 1996-2001, and then the Central Hockey League until 2009.
The team started well, winning the regular season championship in its first season. This fast start helped endear the team to the local fan base, and the Scorpions were able to draw an average of at least 4,000 fans for their first five seasons.
While the WPHL collapsed in 2001, the Scorpions were absorbed into the Central Hockey League and continued to enjoy broad support, seeing their annual attendance numbers trend upwards. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for ownership and the team folded after the 2005 season.
Hoping to save the franchise, former NHLers Dave Ellett and Brian Savage bought the team name and brought hockey back to the state with the inaugural game at the Santa Ana Star Center in 2006. However, the year away and a move to outside of Albuquerque proper proved disastrous for the club. The team drew about 3,200 fans per night upon its return, and saw those numbers sink lower in each of the next two seasons.
Junior hockey was brought to New Mexico in 1996 as well with the debut of the New Mexico Ice Breakers. The team had a mildly successful run for 5 years in the Western States Hockey League but ceased operations in 2001.
Immediately following the dissolution of the Scorpions, junior hockey returned following the relocation of a team from Texas. The New Mexico Renegades were also members of the WSHL but hurt their chances at establishing themselves by being one of the worst teams in the league.
The New Mexico Ice Breakers, also based in Albuquerque, competed in the junior Western States Hockey League from 1996-2001. The Santa Fe Roadrunners played in the junior North American Hockey League from 2004-2007.
The Renegades finished at or near the bottom of their division for each of their five years in Rio Rancho. The team never produced a winning record and on three occasions couldn't even get to 10 wins on the year. During their existence, the Renegades had to compete for fans as a second junior team, the New Mexico Mustangs arrived in 2010.
The New Mexico Renegades played in the WSHL from 2009-2014 and the Mustangs competed in the NAHL from 2010-2012. The New Mexico Mustangs were granted inactive status for 2012-13.
The Mustangs were only slightly more successful on the ice but even worse off financially. Following the end of the Renegades, the state was left without a team until 2019 when the New Mexico Ice Wolves were founded.
The New Mexico Ice Wolves have been members of the NAHL since 2019, and added a team of the same name to the NA3HL in 2022. The NA3HL announces new team in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The team could hardly have picked a worse time to start as the COVID-19 pandemic cut their inaugural season short and then play all of their home game in Texas the following year due to health restrictions. However, the team was able to survive the inauspicious start and reached the league semifinals in their third season.
The New Mexico Ice Wolves® today announced that after a thrilling win-or-go-home Game 5 in North Richland Hills, TX the franchise won its first ever South Division title. Thanks to a 29-save shutout from goalie Beni Halasz the NM Ice Wolves completed their series comeback with a 1-0 win on the road in the South Division Finals on Sunday punching their ticket to their first ever Robertson Cup National Championship.
New Mexico was down 0-2 in the series before coming back to win the last three games in a row. Goals were hard to come by in the final game, but after a scoreless first period the only goal of the game would come off the stick of NM Ice Wolves leading scorer Dillan Bentley who scored on the power play for his fifth goal of the playoffs with assists to William Howard and Joe Prouty to put New Mexico ahead 1-0.
With the win the NM Ice Wolves advance to the Robertson Cup National Championship in Blaine, MN as the #3 seed where they will take on the #2 seed and NAHL East Division Champion New Jersey Titans in a best of three semi-final series starting Friday, May 20 at 7:30pm CT. Game 2 is on Saturday, May 21 at 7:30pm CT while Game 3 (if necessary) is on Sunday, May 22 at 6pm CT. The Robertson Cup National Championship Game is on Tuesday, May 24 at 7pm CT.
The other two teams chasing the Robertson Cup are the NAHL Central Division Champion St. Cloud Norsemen facing off against the NAHL Midwest Division Champion Anchorage Wolverines. All of the Robertson Cup Championship games will be played in Blaine, MN at the Fogerty Arena. All of the team’s games can be watched on HockeyTV.com.
The first ever NAHL South Division Championship title for the NM Ice Wolves comes fresh off recently announced NAHL season honors in which NM Ice Wolves Head Coach Phil Fox was named 2021-2022 North American Hockey League (NAHL) Coach of the Year and Team Owner Stan Hubbard was named 2021-2022 NAHL Executive of the Year.
The Coach of the Year selection is based on performance during the 2021-22 regular season, as voted upon by the league’s 29 Head Coaches while the Executive of the Year was voted upon by the league’s 29 owners and governors. In his third season behind the NM Ice Wolves bench, Phil Fox earns his first career Coach of the Year Award in the NAHL. The 36-year-old led the NM Ice Wolves to a franchise record 38 wins during the regular season and a second place finish in the South Division.
In addition, six NM Ice Wolves players to date have made NCAA commitments. Fox was also the head coach of the South Division team at the 2022 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament.
Stan Hubbard, who is the Owner and Governor of the NAHL’s New Mexico Ice Wolves, continues to have more organizational success in 2021-22. The team recorded its most wins ever in a season and last November Hubbard welcomed the USA Women’s National Team coming to Albuquerque to train ahead of the Winter Olympics. That included exhibition games against the NM Ice Wolves. In April, Hubbard and the NM Ice Wolves raised $53,285 for the Feed My Starving Children organization to provide 220,020 meals for Ukrainians impacted by the war.
The coaching and executive honors came a day after the team was named the North American Hockey League (NAHL) South Division Organization of the Year and Forward Dillan Bentley named to the All-South Division Team.
The divisional teams and honors represent the four divisions in the NAHL: Central, East, Midwest and South, with the divisional teams voted upon and selected by the league’s 29 head coaches and the other division honors voted by the members of the league’s board of governors. The awards are based on performance during the 2021-22 regular season.
This was the second time in team history the NM Ice Wolves were named the South Division Organization of the Year honor after being given the honor in the team’s inaugural season in 2019-2020.
The NM Ice Wolves finished their 2021-2022 regular season with back-to-back wins adding to an already record total for the most wins in team history.
About NAHL The NAHL, the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior league boasting 29 teams, with the addition of El Paso, TX and Anchorage, AK in the 2021-22 season, from across the United States, prides itself on the social maturity and skill development of student-athletes ages 16-20 with aspirations of advancing to collegiate and/or professional hockey. During the 2019-20 season, the NAHL recorded an all-time single-season record of 361 NCAA commitments, with a record 249 (70%) of those being NCAA Division I commitments. Over the course of the past five years, 1,500+ NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 30+ NAHL players have been selected in the NHL Draft.
If you are new to New Mexico and looking to continue to play hockey or you have never played the game before, we have something that will fit your skill level and experience. Due to the limited number of roster spots per team, new players typically enter the league as a substitute first. This allows us to evaluate each player and determine which division is the best fit and affords new players the ability to see if the league is a good fit for them. Furthermore, new players are encouraged to reach out as early in the season as possible so we have ample substitution opportunities before the playoffs and before the new season starts.
NMHockey currently has programs at two different rinks in New Mexico: The Outpost Ice Arena in Albuquerque and The MAC in Rio Rancho. The league at the Outpost Ice Arena consists of 5 different level divisions with 4 teams in each: E division (Novice), D division, C division, B2 division, and B1 division. The MAC consists of 2 different level divisions with 4 teams in each: Intermediate and an Intermediate - Advanced. Team rosters are redrafted at the beginning of each season.
The New Mexico Pro Hockey Club: A New Chapter
New Mexico has been without a pro hockey franchise since 2009 and rumors of a return have persisted in recent years. REV made it official this week. Decker said he's happy and relieved to finally announce the ECHL's latest expansion entry.
"We're incredibly excited," Decker said in a phone interview. "We actually got league approval last year and it's been really hard to stay quiet. I kind of feel like the dog that's been chasing the car forever and finally caught it. It's time to start hiring staff and getting to work."
The New Mexico Pro Hockey Club - team name and mascot to be determined - will play home games at the Rio Rancho Events Center, competing in a Double-A league that serves as a farm system to the NHL and the Triple-A American Hockey League.
The ECHL, formerly the East Coast Hockey League, was comprised of 29 teams across the country this season and will add a 30th, the Greensboro Gargoyles, next fall. New Mexico will be team No. 31.
The new club's ownership group is headed by Texas-based REV Entertainment, a sports and entertainment company that oversees operations for numerous sports venues and franchises, including Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and the ECHL Allen Americans. New Mexico's ownership group also includes local investors, REV president Sean Decker said.
Rio Rancho and Albuquerque do have a history in professional hockey. The New Mexico Scorpions competed in the Western Professional Hockey League and later the Central Hockey League for two stints between 1996 and 2009 before ceasing operations.
But Rio Rancho and the Albuquerque metro area has grown 34% (from 729,000 residents in 2009 to a projected 978,000 residents this year) since the Scorpions left town, and Decker believes the time is right for pro hockey to make its return.
"On my first trip to Rio Rancho, I fell in love with it," he said. "I started looking into it and saw that minor league sports like the Isotopes and United have been successful in that market. I know hockey has also been successful there in the past."