New Mexico Ice Wolves hockey gets under way at the Outpost Ice Arenas next week, August 26, with the start of training camp. The Ice Wolves are looking to build off of a successful season as they saw the playoffs for the second time in their five year history. There are a handful of returning players from last years squad including:
Forwards: Ethan Hull, Zach Boren, Johnny Johannson, Bryce Johnson, and Andrew Earl
Defenseman: Mad Matthews and Francois Devilliers
Goalie: Jackson Fuller
The Ice Wolves also have called up one player from the NA3HL Ice Wolves team in Stanley Hubbard who made his NAHL debut at the end of the 23-24 season.
As the New Mexico Ice Wolves enter their sixth season as a franchise they enter uncharted waters with the departure of Head Coach Phil Fox who accepted an assistant coaching job at his alma mater Northern Michigan University. The organization welcomes in Kevin Hartzell as interim head coach and general manager to begin a new era of New Mexico Ice Wolves hockey and he says how excited to start the season.
“When Stan Hubbard broached the idea of giving a year to actual coaching again, I wasn’t sure what to think at first. I love my morning pickleball! That said, I am all in!
Week one, we will be building our foundation in the individual skillsets required to succeed at this level and beyond, and also the necessary foundation for team defense and team offense. I can’t wait to get started!”
Vinny Bohn will be returning as an assistant coach and assistant general manager to start the season and will bring an exponential amount of knowledge of returning players and recruits as he looks forward to returning to the playoffs with a new team.
“This is one of the most exciting times as a coach to see guys like Francois, Fuller, Bryce, Johnny and other veterans who took a step with their off-season training but also see them mature into leadership roles. We’re excited for our good mix of younger tenders such as Sam Grimaldi, Andy Earl, Carson Renfrew, and Noah Mertz that are coming from good programs and then we have guys with junior experience such as Owen Kindree, Michael Kull, Sean Smith, and Brendan Holahan who earned his Army commit last season. We really focused on our draft and Michael Schermerhorn gave us a template in what we wanted to bring into this year with players like Ben Polomsky, Jake Kasay, Toivo Laaksonen, Herman Asberg, Adrian Marek and Stanley Hubbard. We like what we have coming in and we’re going to have a lot of hard decisions especially with the exciting free agents we have coming from our Main Camp in Stillwater.”
Kyle McKenzie will be an assistant coach this season as well, Coach McKenzie has experience playing at the DI hockey level as well as the professional level. He will bring a strong player aspect to the coaching realm.
“This time of year is always exciting. Everybody is eager to get things rolling and to start building that team camaraderie. We want to be a tough team to play against and it starts with a competitive training camp.”
Fans, be sure to keep an eye on social media and the website for camp updates as well as preseason game updates! The Ice Wolves will play their first two preseason games on August 31 against the Lone Star Brahmas and September 1 against the Oklahoma Warriors. Then, we return home to take on USNTDP for two games on September 13 and 14. That will conclude the preseason and we welcome the Corpus Christi Ice Rays to town for the first three games of the 2024-2025 season September 20-22.
Photo Credit: Zach Price