Ice Wolves Den: A new season on the horizon This summer's Acorn Cup. is in the #PHNSpotlight

I recently had the opportunity to work the Acorn Cup. If you’re unfamiliar with the Acorn Cup, it is the largest adult hockey tournament in New Mexico, 2025 was the fifth tournament.

Tournament Founder James Devine says everything started in 2021, as a way for friends to get together during Covid, “It started as a way for a larger group of us to play games together during Covid, while the leagues were shut down. There were about 60 of us consistently playing against each other and we wanted to have something more serious than a pick up game.” Devine said, “I organized a 6 team tournament and we got the opportunity to have those more serious games, more importantly the bragging rights! It was gonna be a one time thing, but the response was good and I had double the amount of teams and players interested and asking if they could play in year 2, so I got the idea to make it an annual event. “

Devine says naming the tournament was rather simple and the rapid growth was unexpected. “My team name inspired the name. We came up with the Salty Squirrels for another tournament we played in a few months earlier and when the idea of running a tournament was being discussed, I thought the Acorn Cup made a lot of sense with the squirrel team name. It stuck and actually rolled off the tongue well. It also opened the door to some fun trophy ideas that we’ve gotten to try out.” Devine continued, “I definitely didn’t expect it grow as fast as it did. When we started for year 3 and got teams form surrounding states, it was super exciting. We got to a point where we actually just rented the building for the weekend instead of asking for individual ice times. It also allowed us to create a more philanthropic aspect and help give back to the local hockey community. That part has been the most rewarding, the first 3 years I basically ran it at a loss or close to a breakeven. The last 2 years we’ve raised almost $6500 for the local youth hockey programs. I’m hoping to get over $10,000 for a 3 year total next year.”

James says the hockey family helped him transition to Albuquerque, “The hockey community in New Mexico is small but strong and almost all of my friends here are from that community. I moved to New Mexico by myself and without my hockey family it would have been a hard transition. I want more people to have the ability to experience the welcoming and wonderful people here. If I can help grow that community more, that’s super meaningful to me.”

One thing the Acorn Cup always signals is, it’s almost hockey season. Ice Wolves fans, the wait is almost over, training camp starts next week and opening night is September 12th. See you at the Outpost.