March 23, 2018 at 11:07 a.m.
Double Baker
Senior Spaulding wins Hodag hockey's Al, Hobey Baker Awards
Double Baker
Spaulding was presented not one but two Baker awards. He earned the Al Baker Award as the team's most outstanding senior as well as the Hobey Baker Character Award given out to exemplary senior boys' and girls' hockey players statewide.
Spaulding anchored the team's second line this season - recording seven goals and five assists despite missing three games due to a shoulder injury - but coach M.J. Laggis focused on the intangibles Spaulding brought to the team during Tuesday's banquet.
"I think the thing that makes it so special and so amazing is that he's so not arrogant," Laggis said. "He's a kid, you pull for him. You want to see him do well because of the way he carries himself. The calming moments this year when we were down by two goals - and we were there more than once and found a way back - a big part of it was him talking about our team, our confidence. Sometimes it wasn't me. Sometimes it was him leading the charge on the way out."
Spaulding is the 29th annual winner of the Alfred O. Baker award, named after the former Rhinelander High School coach, and presented yearly to the senior or seniors who have "shown good sportsmanship, hard work and dedication to the goals of the hockey program," as the commemorative plaque states.
But the other Baker Award was just as notable for Spaulding. The Hobey Baker High School Character Award is presented to seniors statewide who demonstrate exemplary character and sportsmanship throughout their high school career. High school boys and girls hockey teams in Wisconsin are allowed to select one senior to receive the award. Logan Wild received the award for the Hodags last year. Prior to that, Wild's older brother, Trent, was the last to receive a Hobey Baker for the Hodags in 2014.
"I don't know the exact number of how many of these are given out around the state but I do know this, coaches like me are very particular about it," Laggis said. "I could think of a stretch of four to five years for a fact that I never gave that award away ... I think these kind of awards just say a lot. I really do. They are life awards. I'm just really proud that he got that. He deserved it and I think he's one of the all-time character guys that I've ever been around. I think it's fair to say a lot of coaches look up to him.
"The best thing he will leave with his legacy is learning what leadership really looks like," Laggis added.
The Hodags handed out six other awards on the evening. Junior Freddy Wisner was named the team's most valuable player, senior Nick Sandstrom was named the most improved player, sophomore Danny Zuiker won the Blue Line Award given to the team's top defenseman, sophomore Abe Laggis won the team's playmaker award, senior Matthias Schneider won the Mr. Hustle award and senior Sam Rhode received a Hodag Award.
Wisner led the team in scoring during the 2016-17 season with 17 goals and 17 assists, including a five-point game in the Hodags overtime playoff victory over Mosinee.
"He's got a big heart," coach Laggis said. "He's got a big game and he plays that way. We haven't had a 50-pointer. This year we finally had a couple of guys over 30 points and he really is a guy that has that 40, 50-point potential next year and we need it."
Abe Laggis won the most objective award of the night. The playmaker award goes to the player who records the most assists over the course of the season. Laggis had 18 of them to go along with 12 goals scored.
"He's a definite guy that has vision on the ice and he's a definite guy that makes things happen," said coach Laggis, Abe's father. "I got some great compliments about him from other coaches. He has very good hands and very good vision. He is a guy you're going to hear a lot about the next couple years, if he keeps working the way he is."
Zuiker scored three goals and six assists on the season, none bigger than his game-winner in the playoffs against Mosinee. He missed seven games with a shoulder injury. Rhinelander was 16-3-0 with him in the lineup and 0-7-0 without him.
"You know a lot about his value by what we did when he wasn't there," coach Laggis said. "He's a gamer all the way. He practices really well but he plays a lot better ... He's had a great year. He scored a couple of big goals for us and he's a mainstay back there."
Laggis lauded Schneider's effort in practice and in games and saluted Sandstrom and Rhode for their contributions to the team this season as seniors who saw sporadic ice time.
"A couple of these awards are tailored to a couple of seniors I'm really impressed with for different reasons - not always that they had the game-winning goal - but for their stick-to-itiveness," Laggis said.
Additionally the Hodags recognized their three captains this season - Spaulding, Wisner and junior Bridger Flory.
The Hodags went 16-10-0 overall this season and tied four fourth in the Great Northern Conference with an 7-6-0 league mark.
"We had a great season and I think we're going to see some big things out of this group next year, I really do," Laggis said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.