January 21, 2021 at 8:43 a.m.
Hodag hockey stays hot, blasts Medford 13-1
Hodag hockey stays hot, blasts Medford 13-1
Joe Schneider netted four more goals and the Hodags had eight different players score as they routed Medford 13-1 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
The Hodags (10-5-0, 5-2-0 Great Northern) scored five goals in the first period and never looked back as they extended their winning streak to four in a row. Rhinelander has be prolific offensively in the four wins, tallying a total of 40 goals. The Hodags have scored four or more in a period six times during the winning streak, including all three periods on Tuesday.
"We've been there before and you need that to continue in the big games, when it's really on the line," Rhinelander coach M.J. Laggis said. "We did what we had to do tonight for sure and put a pretty good knockout punch on them earlier on rather than later."
Tuesday's game marked the fifth time this season - and the third time in the last four contests - that the Hodags have scored at least 10 goals in a game.
Rhinelander's top line continued to produce. Four more goals gave Schneider 22 on the season, including nine in the Hodags' last two games. Harlan Wojtusik scored twice in the contest, bringing him to 19 goals on the season.
"Harlan and Joe both are just dominant players," coach Laggis said. "Harlan's hands are phenomenal and Joe's such a grinder and a worker. They're two of the better forwards that I've had together."
Joey Belanger got things started for the Hodags just 57 seconds into the contest. Power play goals by JC Adams, Joe Schneider and Layne Roeser extended the lead to 4-0 and Joe Schneider popped in one more to give Rhinelander a 5-0 lead after one.
Cal Laggis scored to send the game into running time just 90 seconds into the second period. Joe Schneider, Jake Losch and Wojtusik added goals before Medford got its lone tally of the night, a Carter Pernsteiner tally with 1:13 remaining in the period.
Joe Schneider, Carter Detienne, Wojtusik and Roeser scored for Rhinelander in the third period as the Hodags outshot the Raiders, 41-14.
Extended playing time
The Hodags used the game as an opportunity to give more ice to its third and fourth lines. Sophomore Brandon Baumann made the most of the chance, recording his first career assist on Joe Schneider's fourth goal early in the third period.
"That was awesome for Brandon to get an assist. I have so much respect for a kid that's out there and might be newer to the game and they're playing high school hockey and they're not getting a ton of time, but they're at practice every day and they're working hard," coach Laggis said. "We've got about three or four guys in that situation. I have total respect for that and I want to get them in the game whenever we can. Brandon, he's got a lot of potential. He's got to refine some things, but he's a kid that really shows some bright flashes and it will be interesting to see what he does the next couple of years."
Rhinelander played all three of its goaltenders in the contest. Garrett Kulhanek got the win, stopping all five shots he faced over the first 24 minutes. Caleb Shefveland made five saves in six chances as he played into the third before giving way to Tyler Kimmerling-Keating, who stopped Medford's final three shots on goal.
Better than perfect power play
In a statistical oddity, Rhinelander finished the night better than 100% - 4 for 3 - on the power play. That was thanks in large part to a pair of goals scored by Adams and Schneider during a five-minute major penalty assessed to Medford's Cameron Bull for checking from behind. Roeser scored on Rhinelander's two other power play opportunities.
"We scored some power play goals. We weren't sharp on the power play, but we got pucks to the net and did what we had to do," coach Laggis said.
Medford was assessed a second checking from behind major penalty late in the game. It went against Austin Stauffer and included a game disqualification penalty.
Conference implications
The Hodags finished 5-2-0 in league play, and are locked into the No. 4 seed in the Great Northern Conference tournament.
That's because Lakeland forfeited its GNC game against Northland Pines that was originally scheduled for Tuesday, and postponed to Saturday, due to COVID-19 concerns. The forfeit was not been made official by the conference Wednesday evening. Rhinelander needed Lakeland to defeat Northland Pines in regulation to vault up to the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.
Due to the forfeit, Northland Pines (6-1-0) is the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament, based on a head-to-head win over Mosinee (6-1-0) earlier this year. Lakeland (5-1-0) receives the No. 3 seed over Rhinelander based on a head-to-head win over the Hodags Jan. 7.
Rhinelander, as the No. 4 seed, will host fifth-seeded Waupaca Tuesday at the RIA in the first round of the GNC tournament. The Comets clinched the No. 5 seed with a 2-1 win over Antigo Tuesday night.
The conference semifinals will be held next Thursday and the conference finals take place next Saturday in Lakeland.
Up next
The Hodags will entertain Hayward in a non-conference contest Saturday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. The teams will play one junior varsity period at 3 p.m., with the varsity contest to follow.
The Hurricanes have gone 6-5 against a tough independent schedule, which includes a 9-3 win over Northland Pines last month.
"We've got one heck of a good Hayward team coming here Saturday. I'm really excited for the challenge," coach Laggis said. "The timing couldn't have been better. We've had a good four games here and we've had opponents - I never want to put Antigo in that category - but we've had games that we should win and we did win. Now we got a big contest on Saturday. It's going to be difficult and it's going to be a great tune-up for the conference tournament."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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