New Richmond boys hockey beats Amery; association plans for 40th anniversary

• Kole Hallmark

Tiger sophomore Kole Hallmark (17) looks to make a pass to a teammate coming down the slot during the 3-1 win over Amery last Tuesday.

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A year ago, the New Richmond boys hockey team didn’t win the Middle Border Conference for the first time in conference history.

Amery won the title last year. New Richmond took the first step in winning back the MBC crown last Tuesday by defeating Amery’s Warriors 3-1 at the New Richmond Sports Center.

The Tigers outshot Amery 27-14 in the first two periods, but trailed 1-0. The Tigers were able to put three of their 12 third period shots past Amery goalie Jimmy Richison.

One of the younger Tigers was the player who provided the spark in the third period of the win. Sophomore Nick Lubow scored the Tigers’ first goal and set an example with his energetic play. His goal came when he drove hard to the net as he and classmate Kole Hallmark skated in on a two-on-one break. Hallmark made an accurate pass to Lubow, who was able to squeeze the puck past Richison with eight minutes left in the period.

“Nick Lubow was great for us in the third period,” said Tiger Coach Adam Swanda. “He was making the difference. In the third period he was working his tail off.”

Lubow also was a big part of the Tigers’ second goal. With the Tigers on the power play, Lubow won a battle for the puck in the corner. He fed the puck to Josh Manske, who scored with 4:01 remaining.

The Tigers now had momentum and used it to score again 16 seconds later. Jeremy Leavens got the goal, off assists from Tanner Wisemiller and Jarek Manske.

The Tigers, ranked 10th in the state in the Wisconsin Prep Hockey rankings, got 17 saves from senior goalie Aaron Chwialkowski. Amery’s only goal was scored with 17 seconds left in the second period by Jake Mullendore. Shutting down Mullendore was a key to the Tigers’ success. Mullendore is one of the leading scorers in the state and the puck was on his stick for a high percentage of the time when the Warriors possessed the puck. Swanda said the Tigers did an excellent job of keeping Mullendore pinned to the perimeter of the offensive zone, where he couldn’t get any open looks at the net. The one Amery goal came after the Tigers missed on several chances to clear the puck out of their zone.

40th anniversary

The next game for the Tigers will be played this Saturday as part of the New Richmond Youth Hockey Association 40th anniversary celebration. That game will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday against the Eau Claire Regis-Chippewa Falls McDonell-Bloomer cooperative team.

The 40th anniversary celebration begins on Friday, when more than 30 former Tiger players are expected for the annual Tiger hockey alumni game. The alumni game will start at 7 p.m. at the New Richmond Sports Center.

Saturday’s events begin with the junior varsity game against Regis at noon, followed by the varsity game at 2 p.m. The 40th anniversary banquet will be held at Ready Randy’s, beginning with the social hour at 5 p.m. The dinner is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m., followed by the program at 7:30 p.m.

Tags: sports, tigers, hockey, prep