December 26, 2018 at 12:49 p.m.
Abe Laggis shaken up as Hodag boys' hockey falls to Waupaca 6-1
Abe Laggis shaken up as Hodag boys' hockey falls to Waupaca 6-1
Abe Laggis did not return to the game after sustaining a knee injury in the first period and the Comets took advantage of his absence in posting a 6-1 win over the Hodags.
Laggis left the game 5 1/2 minutes into the first after sustaining knee-to-knee contact with Waupaca's Davis Levine - who was assessed a five-minute major kneeing penalty for his actions.
Coach M.J. Laggis, Abe's father, expressed his displeasure about the hit, which seemed to change the complexion of the game.
"It was a turning point, to be honest. This kid went knee-on-knee on him. I hate to say it, but that's the second time Waupaca's done that to us," Laggis said. "I was pretty hot-tempered about it because you don't want to try to take a kid out. That ended his night and we hope it didn't end a lot of time. We hope he can come back and we'll find out more."
"When you go knee on knee, you just don't do that as a hockey player. You just don't do that. That's such an unsafe play and, in his case, when you have an ACL reconstruction on your left knee and that's the knee he got hit on, it's a double concern."
As of Saturday it was unclear how many games, if any, Abe Laggis would miss. Preliminary tests on his left knee, which he also injured as a freshman, were encouraging, coach Laggis said.
Waupaca scored twice in the first period, three times in the second and once more in the third.
The Comets top line of Jack Menzies, Mitchell Trzebiatowski and Cody Rasmussen accounted for much of the damage. Menzies had a hat trick, Trzebiatowski scored twice more and Rasmussen chipped in a couple of assists on the night.
"That line was lights out. We tried not to let them run wild but they had the upper hand on us," coach Laggis said.
Eli Bartel got things going for Waupaca 3:18 into the contest and then Menzies made it 2-0 in favor of the Comets at the 14:47 mark of the first. Menzies scored again 2:01 into the second and Trzebiatowski scored on the power play 5:04 into the period with the Hodags' Harlan Wojtusik sitting for a five-minute major checking from behind penalty.
Rhinelander's lone goal came at the 6:56 mark of the second 4-on-4 after Lavine took another kneeing penalty, this one a minor. Hunter Hicks had the tally off a Bridger Flory assist.
Flory - who missed the start of the game while having an injury of his own assessed - provided a lift, as did the entire group of seniors, coach Laggis said.
"Our kids, even though they were scrambling around and our lines were messed up, the one thing I will say is in the locker room, we were incredibly positive," he said. "Our kids never stopped playing hard. I was very pleased with some leadership that showed up. That's one thing I left saying. Believe it or not, I think we got stronger as a team."
Menzies completed his hat trick at the 8:24 mark of the second and Trzebiatowski scored once more at the 13:08 mark of the third period.
The Abe Laggis injury seemed to set the tone for a physical, penalty-filled game. There were 14 penalties - including two majors - assessed in the contest, totaling 34 penalty minutes. Rhinelander committed nine penalties for 21 minutes.
"From that point on, everything we did was a penalty pretty much," coach Laggis said. "That's an issue. We're talking a lot of interference and stuff like that. We can play Tomahawk where we don't take a penalty and then we have a game were penalties are over the top. We're on both ends of the spectrum. We've got to figure that out."
Waupaca outshot Rhinelander 47-29 in the contest. Seth Stafford made 41 saves in defeat.
The Hodags (6-4-0, 3-2-0-0 Great Northern) will host Baraboo tomorrow night to kickoff a four-team weekend tournament at the RIA.
Rhinelander enters the tournament having lost three of its last four games following a 5-1 start, but coach Laggis said he hopes the team can use last Friday night's loss, and the circumstances behind it, as a rallying point.
"It was a locker room where probably six guys talked at one point or another to the team about this being a takeoff point," he said. "We can't be much more down than we are right now, so let's take off from here. I'm proud of the kids who stepped and said this is going to be a positive for us by the end of the year."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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