ALBUQUERQUE – Hello Ice Wolves fans and welcome to the latest edition of the Ice Wolves Den. This week we feature one of our homegrown Ice Wolves, Jake Wenner.
Jake is one of the lucky few to play his junior hockey at home, “My Dad was my first coach, he’s helped me and taught me a lot. Just the opportunity to play at home I think is something everyone wants, I’m lucky to have a team here I can play for.” Wenner continued, “This is the arena I grew up in, it’s special. I always wanted this, but I didn’t know if it would happen. It gives me a little more to play for having my family in the building every night. We have a great staff here, they definitely helped me a lot. I’m just happy I get to still play with them.”
Gilbert feels kids like Wenner advancing to the Ice Wolves is a massive benefit, “Having Jake come back to the 3HL team is everything. This is what Stan Hubbard has been looking to do since he started this team. The point of the 3HL program was to bridge the gap between our youth program and our NAHL team. Now there’s a step where these kids can better understand junior hockey.” Gilbert continued, “Now we have kids like Stanley Hubbard who have advanced from our youth program, to the 3HL and now he’s playing for the NAHL team. Our ultimate goal is to have a kid progress from our Learn to Play all the way up to our NAHL team. All of the credit for his advancement here goes to Wenner, he’s a determined kid. At the end of the day, it’s guys like him that help the next generation. He’s really taken that mantle and wow, he’s doing awesome and really flourishing as a person.”
Head Coach Darren Banks is happy for Wenner to get this opportunity, “I think it’s great for him, he gets to play in front of his hometown crowd, where he grew up playing. He’s a fantastic leader and he’s always giving back to the community. To be on our team and having the success he’s had, we’re happy for him.” Banks said, “He’s a hard worker and he plays with a great pace. We were fortunate last season to get him at the end of the year. We’re obviously excited for him and look forward to seeing him grow as a player. Getting homegrown players is extremely important. Our youth program is growing all the time. Coach Gilbert helps greatly with our youth programs, Ben Danford is our Youth Director, we’re really tied in with our youth program. We have kids skating every day with us from our U-18 program. Obviously we want to win games, but ultimately we want to grow hockey in Albuquerque and we want to see this organization and this community flourish.”
Falling short last season is a motivation for Wenner, “It was heartbreaking last year, we definitely want to put a different banner up this year. It was awesome to get to come in last year for the playoffs. It was a great atmosphere.” Wenner continued, “We just want to do the right things now, keep it positive. Make sure we’re all headed in the right direction. We have a great group and that’s been easy so far.”
The NAHL Ice Wolves were off this past weekend, they return home this Friday and Saturday to take on the Oklahoma Warriors. Puck drop both nights is 6:30.
The 3HL team made a statement by sweeping the Tulsa Jr. Oilers 9-0, 6-0 and 9-2. They are off this weekend as they prepare to head down I-25 in 2 weeks to take on El Paso riding a 6 game winning streak.
Photos courtesy of Scott Adamson.
Editor;s Note: This edition of the Ice Wolves Den was delayed for technical difficulties for the publisher. It happens.
