January 21, 2019 at 1:57 p.m.
Hodag hockey wins East/Merrill tournament
Hodag hockey wins East/Merrill tournament
Up 3-0 in both of its contest, the Hodags fended off rallies to defeat Medford 5-3 and East/Merrill 3-2 to take the four-team weekend tournament at the Smith Center.
"We've got to get a lot better yet, but it feels nice to be on a little winning streak here and we've got to try to keep the juice going," Laggis said after Saturday's win over East/Merrill.
Things got interesting in both contests for the Hodags after jumping out to seemingly commanding leads. Up 3-0 after one period over Medford on Friday night, the Hodags gave up two goals over the first 1 minute, 25 seconds of the second before answering with a pair of goals later in the period.
It was a similar story Saturday. Leading 3-0 heading into the third, Rhinelander allowed a pair of Christian Matson goals in the first 2:41 of the period and had to protect a one-goal advantage the rest of the way.
"When it was 3-0 at the end of two, we were in the locker room talking about just putting this game away and not making it be a nail-biter. We have a propensity of letting people right back in after we have our thumb on them, and that's exactly what happened," Laggis said. "For whatever reason when we have a nice lead coming into the second, or in today's case it was the third, it's just like we come out flat. That's one part of the niche I can't figure out."
Hunter Hicks gave Rhinelander the lead 2:14 into the opening period of Friday's game against the Raiders. Conor Pequet and Bridger Flory added tallies 11 seconds apart later in the period to give the Hodags a 3-0 advantage.
Medford's Charlie Branstetter scored essentially off the opening faceoff in the second period and Blaine Seidl added a goal at the 1:25 mark to cut Rhinelander's lead to one. Harlan Wojtusik threw water on the fire with a goal two minutes later and Hicks restored the three-goal advantage with his second tally of the night at the 8:53 mark.
Seidl scored his second of the game for Medford with 6:38 remaining in the third period, but the Raiders drew no closer and were outshot 35-10 in the contest.
Hicks kept things going for Rhinelander Saturday against East/Merrill, going end-to-end off a pass from goalie Seth Stafford for a goal that gave Rhinelander a 1-0 lead at the 14:35 mark of the first. Hicks scored again at the 4:42 mark of the second on a rebound off a JC Adams shot. Flory gave Rhinelander a 3-0 lead at the 10:48 mark. Carter Detienne had the assist, earning his first career varsity point.
Matson made things interesting for East/Merrill early in the third, beating Stafford on a breakaway at the 1:35 mark of the period. Just more than a minute later, Matson threw a puck from behind the end line that bounced off the back of Stafford's skates and caromed into the goal.
"When it was 3-2 and it looked like we were in trouble, for whatever reason, we started playing better and I felt more confident on the bench. We really started playing well," coach Laggis said.
Both teams called timeouts over the final 2:16 of regulation and the Hodags controlled the end-game situation. East/Merrill did not record a shot on goal over the final two minutes and change, and a strong Hodag forecheck prevented the Bluejacks from taking the offensive zone with control of the puck until the final 20 seconds of the game.
"We went right to a 1-2-2 (forecheck). We talk at length about how to put the game away," coach Laggis said. "That's how you run a 1-2-2 at the end of the game. We talked on the bench about relaxing, being calm. We've been in this situation and (needed) to make the right play, and I think we did."
Rhinelander outshot East/Merrill 24-20 on Saturday.
Hicks steps up
It was quite a week for Hicks, who scored only three goals in the Hodags' first 14 games.
Hicks' production has skyrocketed over the last three contests, with five goals and two assists. His hot streak began with the game-winning goal in the third period of last Tuesday's win at Antigo. He scored twice in each of this weekend's contests as well.
"Hunter Hicks is playing some of the best hockey I've ever seen him play," Laggis said. "In my opinion, he's the example of when a senior stands up and starts playing way beyond what they've been playing at. That's what he's doing right now. He probably should have had three last night, and probably should have had three today. It couldn't happen to a better guy."
Abe Laggis out
Rhinelander won both games over the weekend without junior forward and leading point-getter Abe Laggis, who hurt his shoulder late in Tuesday's win over Antigo.
"We need to get him back and we hope to get him back by the conference tournament," said coach Laggis, Abe's father. "Our power plays are a little shook. We're missing a key cog in that (Abe Laggis), but we're going to be getting him back at some point. We're trying to piece things together."
This past weekend's games were the first Abe Laggis has missed this season. He left in the first period of a loss to Waupaca Dec. 21 after sustaining a knee injury, but returned seven days later when the Hodags took on Baraboo to begin a holiday tournament.
Conference tournament ahead
The Hodags will carry a three-game winning streak into the inaugural GNC tournament, which opens at home against Mosinee Thursday night.
With a 4-2-0-1 record during the regular season in conference play, Rhinelander earned the three seed for the tournament and could potentially have a rematch with Waupaca in the offing, should both teams take care of business in the quarterfinals. The Comets were relegated to the No. 2 seed in the bracket after getting shellacked by Northland Pines 11-2 Friday night in Eagle River.
"I think Mosinee's going to be a handful and then some. If we can win that, then we go into that top bracket and go to Waupaca and it goes from there," coach Laggis said.
The second round of the conference tournament takes place next Tuesday, with the placement rounds set for next Saturday in Antigo. M.J. Laggis said he's excited to see how the first conference tournament unfolds.
"I think it's a great, exciting format and it's an opportunity for every team in the GNC to play on that one Saturday at the end," he said. "These are conference games and we get to play those in a fun format. We've got to play well in the tournament and hope that it helps our seed (for the WIAA playoffs)."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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