March 28, 2021 at 6:35 a.m.
Team review: RHS boys' hockey
Memorable moments plentiful for Hodag hockey this season
Team review: RHS boys' hockey
The Hodags got hot at exactly the right time, winning five straight contests that resulted in the team's first Great Northern Conference championship and its first trip to the WIAA sectional finals.
"To say I'm emotional would be an understatement," Rhinelander coach M.J. Laggis said after his team defeated Mosinee in Wausau Jan. 30 for the GNC tournament title. "It's been a long, tough pull trying to get our program where we want it to be. It's a credit to the kids and the parents and the community. I know that sounds like a cliche, but we're really trying to build a winning tradition here and a hockey community. I just feel like we're on that right track, big time."
Rhinelander ended the season 15-7-0, marking the third time in the last four years that the Hodags have won at least 15 games. The team has won at least one playoff game in each of those season.
Here are five key storylines from the recently completed season.
Home, home, home in the dome
The first hint that this season could be something special came in the season-opener Dec. 3 at Northland Pines.
The Hodags defeated the defending GNC-champs and D2 state runners-up 5-2 in the contest, marking Rhinelander's first win over the Eagles since 1991.
Rhinelander would not have to wait another 29 years to beat Northland Pines again, defeating the Eagles in both the semifinals of the GNC tournament and the WIAA sectionals semifinals. All three victories came in the Eagle River Sports Arena.
"I've had a lot of moments in this dome that have been thunderous defeats and bad endings. I'm so delighted for our kids tonight," coach Laggis said following the sectional semifinal win. "Beating them once here is incredible. Beating them twice is something, but beating them a third time almost seems out of realm."
The three games followed a similar script, with the Hodags using strong third periods to put away the Eagles. In the Dec. 3 meeting, Rhinelander crawled out of a 2-0 first-period hole in the Dec. 3 game to tie the game at 2 heading to the third. Harlan Wojtusik, Joe Schneider and Carter Detienne scored power play goals in the final period to put it away.
The Hodags scored three times in the third again during the GNC semifinals Jan. 28, but it was the team's second line that did the heavy lifting. Cal Laggis scored twice in the final period and Jake Losch added a goal to break open what was a 2-1 game through two periods.
Up 3-2 after two periods in the sectional semifinal Feb. 9, Losch scored twice in the final period and Joe Schneider added a goal as Rhinelander advanced.
Tourney runs
The wins over Pines gave Rhinelander a couple of incredible opportunities. The Hodags cashed in on one of those opportunities, but could not finish off the second - defeating Mosinee 5-3 for the GNC title, but falling to Lakeland 5-1 in the sectional finals.
Joe Schneider had a monster night for the Hodags in the GNC championship game, scoring four of the Hodags' five goals, including what proved to be the game-winner 25 seconds into the third period. Though Rhinelander was the fourth seed in the GNC tournament, they were awarded a share of the conference title with Mosinee and Northland Pines, based on combined regular season and tournament results.
Rhinelander was not as fortunate, however against Lakeland. The T-Birds scored three in the first period and sophomore goalie Max Masayesva made 42 saves as Lakeland defeated the Hodags, denying Rhinelander and chance to make its first WIAA state tournament appearance.
"I'm proud of the kids for the season," coach Laggis said afterward. "It was nice to get to a sectional final, but it's a lot nicer to win it. We did a lot of good things but, at the end you want to find a way. Credit to Lakeland, they worked really hard."
Front line flash
Joe Schneider and Harlan Wojtusik proved to be one of the most potent combinations in the state this season.
During the regular season, the two combined for 95 points, making them the fifth-highest scoring tandem in the state. Overall, Schneider finished with 32 goals and 25 assists on the season while Wojtusik scored 26 goals and had 22 helpers.
Perhaps their most dominant stretch came in a four-day span from Jan. 12-15 in which the Hodags played Antigo twice and also skated against Wausau East/Merrill. Schneider had 10 goals and six assists in that span while Wojtusik had six goals and nine assists.
"Joe Schneider might be, pound-for-pound the hardest working guy I've coached," coach Laggis said. "He's a beast. Harlan Wojtusik ... he's a man amongst boys out there. Even when Harlan's not popping goals, he just completely controls the game so nicely. I've had very few players in my time that can do that."
Wojtusik was one of three unanimous first-team All-GNC selections this year and finished runner-up to Northland Pines Riley McGee in player of the year voting. Schneider received second team honors in the conference.
Wojtusik was also the recipient of the Hodags' Al Baker Award as the team's most outstanding senior. Wojtusik finished his RHS career with 85 goals and 54 assists.
"I would say over the course of a career, I've never seen a guy do more for us in an offensive capacity than Harlan Wojtusik," coach Laggis said.
Statbook
While Wojtusik and Joe Schneider took most of the headlines, all six members of Rhinelander's top two lines tallied at least 20 points this season, which M.J. Laggis said was the first time he's had that many players score that many points.
Freshman Joey Belanger was the third member of the Wojtusik-Schneider line most of the season and finished the campaign with 27 points (15g-12a). Jake Losch (17-16) skippered the second line with his younger brother, Leo (9-12), and Cal Laggis (6-17).
The Hodags' next two leading scorers were both defensemen, led by second-team All-GNC pick JC Adams (4-8), followed by sophomore Sam Schneider (2-9).
The Hodags did all this while replacing four-year starter Seth Stafford in goal. Two juniors saw the majority of the action. Garrett Kulhanek logged the most time, seeing 792 minutes between the pipes. He went 11-6-0 with a 3.09 goals against average and a .878 save percentage. Caleb Shefveland saw 287 minutes, going 4-1-0 with a 2.48 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.
On special teams, Rhinelander finished the year 29.3% on the power play (22 of 75). Wojtusik led the way with eight power play goals. The team went 88.7% (63 of 71) on the penalty kill.
Though Rhinelander had a plus-20 goal differential in the first period this season, slow starts were a story for the team. The Hodags were tied or trailing after one period in nine of their 22 games this season, going 3-6-0 in those contests. The only time Rhinelander lost when leading after one period was a 4-3 overtime defeat at D.C. Everest Jan. 9, which capped off a three-game losing streak for the team. Rhinelander won nine of its final 11 games following that loss.
What's next
The Hodags don't lose many seniors next season, but the ones they do lose played a major role this year. In Wojtusik and Jake Losch, the team graduates its second and third-leading scorers from this year. Rhinelander also bids fare well to its top defensive tandem in Adams and Jared Arno.
But the Hodags have plenty of talent returning to make another run with four of their top six scorers back, as well as all three goalies and its second defensive tandem of Sam Schneider and Layne Roeser.
"We don't have a ton of kids coming into the program, but we've got a couple of kids we're excited about," coach Laggis said following a U18 tournament in Antigo March 20 and 21 in which the team went 2-1 to finish as consolation champions.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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