When the New Mexico Scorpions played their home games in Albuquerque, their fans dubbed their home "Stingley Coliseum," a play on words of the real name, Tingley Coliseum.

Although their new home in Rio Rancho, Santa Ana Star Center, is being shortened to "the Star" by some, another cutesy name could be used, this one honoring the Scorpions' equipment manager: Maxwell House.

Jeff Maxwell grew up as a fan of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League; he played high school football for three seasons until a knee injury ended that. He's is a young guy who doesn't play hockey, although he has dabbled by playing the inline skating version of the game, a guy who left college on a whim after filling in for a sick assistant equipment manager.

Maxwell has enviable domestic skills, including the ability to quickly sew names and numbers on jerseys, repair torn socks, and sharpen skates, a task that he said takes 5-10 minutes for each pair. He is also in charge of budgeting and purchasing equipment.

"I'm proficient in sewing; I learned in Cincinnati," he said. "My mom's a great (seamstress). I came home and said, 'Look at what I can do.'"

Growing up, Maxwell initially wanted to be a teacher, like his mom.

"I'm learning-disabled," he said. "I wanted to teach children like me, help kids with the same problem."

He was attending the College of Mount St. Joseph, still thinking teaching was in his future, when his sister, who worked in the front office of a Cincinnati pro hockey team, called him to say the assistant equipment manager there had called in sick; could Jeff lend a hand?

You betcha. In fact, he loved the job so much that "I ended up leaving school," he said, and he later found a full-time job as an assistant equipment manager in Milwaukee of the American Hockey League before heading here.

"I stumbled across this," he said. "I knew I'd fit in real well."

Now, nobody has a better seat for the games: Maxwell, 21, sits on the team bench, taking care of the extra sticks and being available for any during-the-game emergencies.

Rio Rancho is a long way from his hometown of Cincinnati, where he graduated Purcell Marion High School in 2003, and a long way from Milwaukee.

"I'm not going to miss the snow," he predicted, remembering a particularly brutal stretch last winter when Milwaukee was "minus-40 three straight days."

When he learned about the Scorpions moving to Rio Rancho and their need for an equipment manager, he made his first trip to the Southwest and liked what he saw

"It's different," he acknowledged, still trying to get used to the way New Mexicans drive.

He said he fits in well with the Scorpions, most of whom are in their early 20s.

"I like to mesh in, goof around with the guys, come in with a smile," he said. "There's always guys you get along with; we'll go out, maybe get a beer, grab dinner."

Maxwell, who attributes his energy and personality to his success, said he knows he can't get too close to the players.

"I have to know the movement of the guys," he said. "It has to be a friendly, good relationship."

How easy can it be to eat dinner, have a beer and be joking with a player one night, then find out the player's been waived or traded the next day? That's a dilemma Maxwell hates to be involved in.

The Scorpions provide Maxwell with a two-bedroom apartment in addition to his salary, just enough for a single guy to live on.

He enjoys the added responsibility as the main man, after being an assistant in Milwaukee. He may be the only guy in Rio Rancho who'll admit to liking laundry day - every day when there's a game, and even practice gear to wash after non-game days.

"On game days, I do the visiting team's laundry, too," he added.

Central Hockey league players, who obviously don't command the same salary as their NHL counterparts, often tip Maxwell.

"It's a 'thank you' for what you've done," he said. "Plus there are end-of-the-year tips. They know you don't make the big bucks."

Maxwell puts in a lot of hours at Santa Ana Star Center: "I work 6 a.m. to midnight on game days, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on practice days," he said. "I was off (on a recent) Sunday. I get a little bit of a change."

He is in charge of setting up the team's bench, namely arranging sticks so a player can quickly replace one that gets broken on the ice.

Maxwell said the Scorpions help him pack their bags for road trips, because he doesn't have an assistant.

On the road, he gets his own bunk in the team's bus.

At home, he's not too busy to watch his favorite team practice, and yell an occasional, "You suck!" when someone skates close to the glass.

It's all in jest; Maxwell is aware of the pranks hockey players can play, and the players know how tough it is to skate when their skates aren't sharp.

He lives and dies with this team, exhilarated with victories, down with every defeat.

"If there's ever a day I'm not fired up for a game is the day I'll leave the job," he said.

He remembers Milwaukee opening the 2005-06 season in a rut, then playing well enough to make the playoffs "and almost won the finals.

"You can get excited for wins but not disappointed for losses," he said.

He'll probably never set foot in a classroom again.

"I don't expect to ever leave hockey," he said. "I hope I'm not in New Mexico more than five or six years; like the players, I want to move up.

"I'm just out here having fun; what else can I say?" Maxwell said, before heading off to tend to another hockey chore.