February 3, 2022 at 8:54 a.m.
Hodag hockey rolls Medford 12-1 in GNC tournament
Rematch against Mosinee ahead in semifinals
Hodag hockey rolls Medford 12-1 in GNC tournament
Finn Tulowitzky recorded his first career hat trick, Joey Belanger had a seven-point night and the Hodags dismantled Medford 12-1 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena in the GNC tournament quarterfinals.
Rhinelander (15-5-0) has now defeated the Raiders (6-12-0) three times this season, by a combined score of 35-4. The latest win earned the Hodags a rematch with Mosinee next Tuesday at the RIA in the GNC semifinals.
Yet, coach Laggis said he felt his team could have played a bit faster on Tuesday, and have been a little more crisp with its forecheck.
"Overall, you've got to look at the body of work and see 12 goals in the back of the net. Lot of good stuff but, certainly, we have to play a much different brand of hockey next week. That's for sure," coach Laggis said. "That wasn't our A game. It wasn't a D or C either, but it was kind of one of those B games where you kind of come into it, you expect to win and you don't necessarily play as sharp as you can play."
The Hodags scored four times in the first period and never looked back. The game went into running time with Rhinelander up six goals by the 7:31 mark of the second and the Hodags cruised, outshooting the Raiders 50-8 in the contest.
The ability to roll three lines of forwards has been a strong point of emphasis for the Hodags this year, though injuries and illnesses have prevented that from happening on a consistent basis. Rhinelander was able to run three lines much of Tuesday night and the second line with Belanger, Tulowitzky and AJ Turek stole the show. Together the trio scored seven of the Hodags' 11 goals and added eight assists.
"It was nice to see Turek get a couple of goals," coach Laggis said. "He had been a little squeamish in front of that net, but he got a couple of pucks on his stick and buried them. That was really, really good. Finn Tulowitzky got his first lifetime hat trick. That was good. He had a couple of nice goals. One thing Finn has demonstrated is he can find the opening in front of the net and get open.
"I kind of like the way that line's starting to develop a little bit. You've got a pure goal scorer in Joey Belanger and you've got Finn, who's just a big, strong body and good hand in front of the net and AJ Turek is emerging. He's playing the first hockey he's played in a few years here. It's really nice to see him contributing at the varsity level."
Layne Roeser, whose two late third-period goals the previous Thursday against Antigo secured the No. 2 seed for the Hodags, got things started off an assist by Belanger moments after a Rhinelander penalty expired 3:28 into the contest.
Tulowitzky then buried his first at the 6:44 mark of the period. Belanger scored at 8:42 and Leo Losch tacked on his first two goals on the night on the power play at 14:23 off an extra pass by Belanger to make it 4-0 Rhinelander after one.
Turek got things started in the second, poking home a loose puck in front 4:50 into the frame. Tulowitzky scored to send the game to running time at 7:31 and Losch deflected in a Carter Detienne shot to make it 7-0.
Medford's lone goal was scored by Brayden Machon on the power play late in the second period.
Belanger opened Rhinelander's five-goal onslaught in the third on the power play at the 2:13 mark. Tulowitzky finished his hat trick at the 4:30 mark before Cal Laggis added a power play tally at 5:54. Turek and Detienne rounded out the scoring for the Hodags.
Belanger and Losch both scored twice, giving them 33 and 32 goals on the season, respectively. Cal Laggis added four assists in the game, bringing his team-best total to 37.
"Leo had a real nice night passing the puck. Joe Belanger's gotten a lot of good chances and he's playing very unselfish, I think," coach Laggis said.
Garrett Kulhanek went the whole way in the Rhinelander goal, making seven stops in victory.
The Hodags had one more non-conference game, Thursday at home against East-Merrill, ahead of Tuesday's rematch with Mosinee, who defeated Tomahawk 9-2 in the quarterfinals. Rhinelander won round one in Mosinee, 6-3 on Jan. 25.
"We know that's going to be a difficult game, for sure," coach Laggis said, looking ahead to the Mosinee rematch. "They're hitting on all cylinders and that will be a difficult one for sure. We have to play our best hockey and we'll use that to just keep getting better here down the stretch."
Elsewhere in the GNC tournament on Tuesday top-seeded Lakeland scored five unanswered goals in the second and third period to defeat Northland Pines, 6-1. Fifth-seeded Waupaca upset Antigo, 4-2.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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