February 13, 2017 at 3:19 p.m.
Hodag hockey splits final regular season games
Rhinelander beats Chequamegon, falls to Ashwaubenon by matching 5-2 scores
Hodag hockey splits final regular season games
The results leave Rhinelander 8-14-0 heading into a playoff contest against Wausau East/Merrill Tuesday night in Merrill and capped off a stretch of three games in three nights for the Hodags to end the regular season.
"I think we handled it OK," coach M.J. Laggis said, referring to the busy schedule. "That's a grind. That's a lot of hockey. Ashwaubenon was a physical game and Antigo (on Thursday night) was physical and they were both emotional. We didn't play the way we wanted to last night, but part of that was Ashwaubenon's speed."
Ashwaubenon 5, Rhinelander 2
The Hodags showed signs of life in the second period Friday night, but could not overcome a sluggish start in a three-goal loss to the Jaguars.
Ashwaubenon scored three times during a 4-minute, 19-second stretch in the middle of the first period, which proved to be the difference in the contest. It was another slow start for Rhinelander, which had Laggis baffled.
"It doesn't add up when you've got guys at the rink here at 5:15 working on shooting, passing, power play," he said. "You would think that you were setting the stage for a fast start and getting them ready to go and that wasn't the case at all tonight."
The Hodags got right back into the contest with two goals in the first 2:01 of the second. First Dylan Roeser banged home a rebound goal on the power play. Then Brandon Kolasa netted a goal a short time later. Momentum appeared to be fully on the Hodags' side with a 5-on-3 power play to begin the third, but Rhinelander couldn't convert and Ashwaubenon's Graham Manders scored his second goal of the night 3:39 into the third to double the Jaguars' lead.
"Some things had to happen right there," Laggis said of the sequence to start the third. "We had to win the face-off, take control of the zone and move it quick and just a combination of a few errant passes and some wet ice and we didn't get it done, plain and simple. Those are the opportunities you have to have."
Any chance for a Hodag comeback was dashed on a Pavel Svoboda rebound goal on the power play with 1:59 remaining following a Logan Wild hooking penalty.
The Jaguars throughly controlled the first period, outshooting the Hodags 11-1. Tyler Roethlisberger scored on a breakaway at the 4:41 mark followed by a screened shot by Manders at the 6:47 mark that beat goalie Cole Pratz stick side. Ashwaubenon's last goal of the period came at the 9-minute mark when Tomas Havlena shot a puck off of Pratz chest that sneaked through.
It was one of two Jaguars goals that hit a Hodag netminder before going in. Seth Stafford, who relieved Pratz at the start of the second period, had Manders' shot go off the webbing of his glove and into the net early in the third.
"Two of the five goals that they scored tonight are goals we shouldn't give up, for sure," Laggis said. "On the other hand, you can't give up the odd-man rushes and do that kind of stuff. It's goaltending. It's our defensemen not giving up odd-man rushes and its our forwards back checking as a team."
Rhinelander was outshot 25-12 overall in the contest.
Rhinelander 5, Chequamegon 2
The shot disparity flipped Saturday night and so did the final score as the Hodags dominated the Screaming Eagles and Loggers (SEaLs).
It was senior night at the RIA and it lived up to the billing, especially in the second period, as three Hodags playing their final home game scored to help Rhinelander build a 4-0 lead.
Wild scored in the second for the Hodags, as did Dylan Roeser, but the highlight came 9:02 into the second when Tyler Blomdahl, recently moved from defense to wing, finally buried his first varsity goal.
Blomdahl has had some chances throughout the season, including a miss on a mostly open net early in the third against Ashwaubenon on Friday. Saturday night was finally his night when he cashed in on a fly play.
"Trust me when I say everyone on the team wanted to get him a goal and we threw it long and he got it," Laggis said. "He was taking that zone and you just felt that this was the moment he was going to pop one. Really proud of him."
Cole Spaulding scored for the Hodags with 11 seconds left in the first period and the Hodags were in control the whole way despite a wild flurry early in the third. Jonathon Ocker broke up the shutout 1:53 into the period, but Hunter Hicks responded for Rhinelander 49 seconds later to give the Hodags a 5-1 lead. Willie Reukauf answered on the ensuing faceoff to bring the SEaLs back within three.
The Hodags dominated the game, outshooting Chequamegon/Phillips 54-8. Stafford played the entire way and made six saves in the win.
"We played a team that we should have beat tonight and we got the job done," Laggis said. "It would have been nice if the goals would have flowed a little freer and we would have gotten some of the younger kids in there faster, but my primary concern was getting those seniors as many reps as they could. We got Nathaniel Berndt in there, he got some nice shifts at D, I was happy with that. Caleb Pierson was in there. Tait Spencer was back from concussion, he got to play and got in there. Ethan Pequet and some of the seniors, some of them were getting plenty of ice time and some of them weren't, so it was ice that they got ice tonight."
Playoff rematch with East/Merrill
For the third straight year, the Hodags find themselves with the No. 9 seed and on the road to begin the WIAA playoffs. Rhinelander will hope for a better outing against the Bluejacks Tuesday night at the Smith Center than they had in a 4-0 loss to East/Merrill Feb. 4 at Marathon Park.
"That's going to be a very difficult game," Laggis said. "We didn't play particularly poorly when we played them in Wausau and we've got to play better when we go there. We're going to have a game plan in mind. Monday, we've got to have a crisp practice and then go and try to win a playoff game."
The Hodags are looking to win their first playoff game since 2014, when they upset Mosinee 1-0 on the road in the first round. To do that, Laggis said his team will have to clean up the mistakes they made the first go round with East/Merrill.
"They have two players that got loose on us and we've got to take care of them big time," he said. "We need to get more pucks on net and, I'll tell you the other thing, we played real sloppy in our own end and we gave them opportunities and we've got to take that away. We've got to play good hockey and take care of the puck and make that a great game - bring it right to the end and give ourselves a chance."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.