The NMICE association’s high school hockey program is the Albuquerque Bears.
The Bears play in the Rio Grande High School Hockey League that encompasses New Mexico, three teams from Southern Colorado, and three teams from West Texas. The league schedules for about 20 games and tries for an even split of home and away games. Some away games will require travel to these out of state locations.
The Bears are a composite team made up of players primarily residing or attending school on the east side of the Rio Grande. (Some exceptions may apply.) The Albuquerque Bears expect to have both a Varsity Team and a JV/Midget Team. Teams are co-ed and made up of Freshman – Seniors from traditional high schools and alternative schools, such as charter schools, home schools, etc.
Tryouts for the Varsity Team will be held on Sept 21stand Sept 22ndfrom 10:00 -11:30am on both days. The Varsity Team is a cut program, while JV/Midget is non-cut, meaning anyone eligible to play High School Hockey will have a team to play on. It should be noted that our JV/Midget team is coming off a stellar season winning three tournaments, including the league championship!
Weekday practice slots are:
Tuesday 4:00-5:30pm
Wednesday 8:15-9:15pm
Thursday 4:00-5:30pm
Saturday practice slots will occur only on Saturday’s that HS does not have a game and will change time slots based on whether the NAHL Team is playing at the Outpost that weekend.
Saturday NONAHL Home Game 9:15-10:15am
10:30-11:30am
Saturday WITHNAHL Home Game 6:45-7:45am
8:00-9:00am
Some practice time slots will be combined with both JV and Varsity sharing ice, and others will be by individual team practice TBD.
With the commitment to skill development that Stan Hubbard, The NAHL Ice Wolves Junior Program, and NMICE are all providing, some of our HS practices will be developed and led by the Travel Coaches.
Matt Coulombe is the point of contact for any Albuquerque Bears High School Hockey questions you may have. He can be reached at irideclyde@gmail.comor 505-263-6284