December 16, 2020 at 1:22 p.m.
Hodag hockey blasts Hatchets 12-1 in non-conference game
Hodag hockey blasts Hatchets 12-1 in non-conference game
The Hodags buried eight goals in the opening period and cruised to a 12-1 victory over the Hatchets at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Nine different players scored for Rhinelander (3-0-0, 2-0-0 Great Northern) in the contest, which was the first of two games in a span of 48 hours for the schools. Rhinelander added Tuesday's game as a late replacement when Chequamegon/Phillips was unable to play. The teams played their regularly scheduled Great Northern Conference matchup in Tomahawk Thursday night in a game that concluded after deadline.
"We played good team hockey," coach M.J. Laggis said. "We had guys sitting the bench later in the game. We were moving the puck and playing as fast and classy as we could and trying to keep ourselves in the mindset of Thursday being a huge conference game with Tomahawk that we have to win. We can't be taking anything lightly. That's been the theme."
Layne Roeser, Harlan Wojtusik and Finn Tulowitzky each scored twice in the first period for the Hodags, as Rhinelander racked up goals at an alarming rate. A pair of Roeser goals in the first 6 minutes, 19 seconds bookended a Wojtusik tally to give Rhinelander a 3-0 edge. The Hodags tacked on three more in a 57-second stretch later in the period with scores by Tulowitzky, Wojtusik and Joe Schneider. Jake Losch added a goal at the 14:42 mark and Tulowitzky scored with 24 seconds remaining in the period to give Rhinelander an 8-0 lead.
The second period was highlighted by a number of milestone goals. Brett Benes, Ben Brooks and Gavin Denis each tallied their first career varsity goal in the period. Those three, plus Joey Belanger's third goal in as many games, gave Rhinelander a 12-0 lead.
"I was really proud Brett Benes, a senior, got his first career goal.," coach Laggis noted. "That was really good. Gavin Denis, a freshman, got his first goal. Finn Tulowitzky got his first and second goal and Ben Brooks got his first goal. That was really cool. We had four players get their first goals."
The large lead afforded the Hodags the opportunity to give more ice time to its third and fourth lines later in the contest.
"We had some guys in the game tonight that were getting a ton of ice time," coach Laggis said. "Guys like Harlan Wojtusik weren't playing in the third at all, Jake Losch, Joey Schneider, JC Adams. We had those guys on the pine and we had younger guys playing. It was just a really good, team game. We had some goals for kids to go out there and get playmakers, get three assists, and we had a lot of assists on a number of those goals tonight."
Cal Laggis tallied four assists in the game for Rhinelander while Joe Schneider had three. Leo Losch, Wojtusik, Carter Detienne and Belanger had two assists each. In all, 16 different players registered at least one point on the night for the Hodags.
Caleb Shefveland made his first start in goal of the season, stopping all nine shots he faced in 32-plus minutes of action to earn the win. Tyler Kimmerling-Keating, played the final 18 minutes and change, making a pair of saves. Rhinelander outshot Tomahawk 34-12 in the contest.
"Chevy (Shefveland) started and kept his focus," coach Laggis said. "Those are hard games to keep your focus in and he made a couple of nice scramble-stance saves with pucks that were on him after not seeing shots for a bit. He did a nice job and didn't give up a goal. Tyler Kimmerling played the third period and gave up one. It was really nice for Tyler to get ice time. I was happy with that as well."
Logan Seymour scored the goal for Tomahawk.
State ranking
The Great Northern Conference received plenty of love in the first Wisconsin Prep Hockey Coaches Poll of the season. Three GNC schools were in the top 5 in the D2 poll, including Rhinelander checking in at No. 5.
"To be honest, it feels good and you want that good feeling, but I don't want to get complacent," Laggis said. "I want our kids to be hungry. We have a really good locker room, a good feel. We're going to have some low moments, there's no doubt about it, but I want the kids to block that stuff out and focus on getting better every day. I think we have the team that can do that."
Defending D2 state champ Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs was the unanimous No. 1 in the coaches poll, followed by Mosinee, Rice Lake, Lakeland and Rhinelander.
The Hodags battle No. 2 Mosinee at the Rhinelander Ice Arena this coming Tuesday night.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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