ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hockey season is well underway, including for our New Mexico Ice Wolves whose out-of-state players are finding themselves right at home here.

Players are all about 17-22 years old. They’re either finishing up high school or taking a gap year before college in hopes of getting NCAA Division I scholarships. Many of them are not only from out of state but also out of the country so they need a place to stay while achieving their goals.

That is where families, like the Shipley family, come in handy.

“She said, ‘Hey, we had this, this young guy, he needs to place a sleep tonight. We’ve already talked about it. Can we do it?’ And I just told her to please make a good decision,” Jeremy Shipley said.

That decision grew Shipley’s family of four to five. They’re letting 18-year-old Connor Hanley have a place to stay while he chases his dreams.

“We were obviously a little nervous in the beginning to open up our home to someone that’s a complete stranger. But just in the short amount of time that Connor’s been here, we’ve really grown,” Jackie Shipley said.

Connor joined the Shipley family in the middle of the season. Since he came to live with them in September, he has become a part of the family.

“It’s been great to see how he interacts with the kids, how he fits right in with like, our life and all the things we do,” Jackie said.

Ten-year-old Easton explained things were a bit awkward in the beginning.

“At first, we were getting to know each other. But then as time went on, we started to get more comfortable with each other,” Easton said.

Now, Easton and seven-year-old Boden feel like Connor is their big brother. They have a lucky stick at home.

It’s lucky because Connor signed it and gave it to them.

With all of the players who come here, like Liam Waugh from Georgia and Tim Hewko from Ann Arbor, Michigan, rookie forwards whom we also talked to, the New Mexico Ice Wolves does their best to not only match up similar lifestyles but also personalities.

“If a player says, ‘I love teaching little kids how to skate or play hockey,’ and I know this family has a couple of kids, I’m like, ‘Ah, that might be a match!’ I meet them and I talk to them, and I just get a sense of who they are. And then I talk to the player and the player’s family. I get a sense of who they are and then I just let my gut kind of do the talking,” explained Tina Tomlin, the host coordinator for the New Mexico Ice Wolves.

Tomlin also hosts a player – goalie Jackson Fuller.

For hosting a player, each family gets $425 a month and discounts on merchandise and food at the rink.