History
The Northwest Hockey Conference was formed in 1976 by five high schools in northwestern Wisconsin that sponsored hockey: Eau Claire Memorial, Eau Claire North, Hayward, Rice Lake and River Falls. [1] All five members were part of athletic conferences that didn't sponsor the sport: the two Eau Claire schools were part of the Big Rivers Conference, Hayward and Rice Lake belonged to the Heart O'North Conference and River Falls were members of the Middle Border Conference. The conference grew to seven members in 1979 when two schools in Chippewa Falls joined: the public Chippewa Falls High School and the private McDonell Central Catholic. [2] Menomonie's entry into the Northwest Hockey Conference the next year brought the roster to eight schools. [3] It would remain that way for two years until four schools (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire Memorial, Eau Claire North and Menomonie) left the conference to join its primary affiliation, the Big Rivers Conference, when it added boys hockey to its spate of offerings for athletic competition. [4] Three schools replaced the four outgoing members: Hudson and New Richmond of the Middle Border Conference and Altoona of the Cloverbelt Conference. [5] This brought temporary stability to the Northwest Hockey Conference before the larger Big Rivers Conference lured its more successful members away: first Hayward in 1986, [6] then Rice Lake in 1988 [7] and finally Hudson and River Falls in 1989. [8] Despite the addition of Somerset in 1987, [9] the losses were too much for the loop to endure and the Northwest Hockey Conference ceased operations in 1989, with the four remaining members (Altoona, McDonell Central Catholic, New Richmond and Somerset) foregoing conference affiliation to compete as independents. [10]
