March 31, 2022 at 7:16 a.m.
Cal Laggis wins Hodag hockey's Al Baker Award
Cal Laggis wins Hodag hockey's Al Baker Award
Laggis was presented the Alfred O. Baker Outstanding Hockey Player Award during the team's banquet Sunday in the RHS commons.
He headlined a list of nine award winners during the team's banquet. Junior Leo Losch was named the team's most valuable player by the coaching staff. Injured senior Joe Schneider earned the Hobey Baker Character Award. Schneider's younger brother, Sam, won the Blue Line Award. Senior goalies Garrett Kulhanek and Caleb Shefveland shared the Hodag Award. Sophomore Joey Belanger and junior Layne Roeser were name co-most improved players and sophomore Gavin Denis won the Hustle Award.
The Al Baker Award is presented to the team's most outstanding senior. The award is named in honor of Baker, who was the Hodags' head coach from 1949-1961, and has been presented annually since 1990.
Cal Laggis, the son of head coach M.J. Laggis, had what the coaching staff believes is a team single-season record for assists, with 44 helpers on the season. He also scored 16 times in a 60-point campaign and finished his three-year high school career with 26 goals and 68 assists.
"I think coach (Laggis) struggled with this one, not because Cal wasn't deserving, but I think that, in a small town, he didn't want his bias to be part of it," assistant coach Wil Losch said, presenting the award. "We certainly had other seniors that were deserving of this, and I think coach (Dave) Denis and I had to give coach Laggis permission, like there's no bias in this one. Cal's deserving of this one and it's appropriate for his name to be on there for future generations to see."
Cal Laggis also received the team's Playmaker Award for leading the squad in assists. Earlier in the banquet, when acknowledging the team's All-Great Northern Conference recipients, M.J. Laggis credited his son's playmaking abilities.
"There are very few kids that have been stronger on the puck, that I've coached, pound for pound," coach Laggis said. "Dylan Roeser stands out as one of those freakishly strong kids on the puck, or Bryan Kronberger but, for his size - he finished cross country at 110 pounds and beefed up to 115 for hockey - he's an animal.
"He's just been a delight to coach, I can't tell you how much fun. A dad and a son can butt heads pretty easy when you're coaching them, and he's been the exact opposite."
Joe Schneider, who led the team in scoring as a junior, would have certainly been in the running for the Al Baker had a knee injury not derailed his senior season. Schneider appeared in only three games because of the injury, but was a constant presence for the team on the bench and in the locker room all season.
"He just did it because it was needed and it was his way of staying a part of it. That goes a long way with me," coach Laggis said. "What a great example of a leader. Though the situation was difficult, he overcame a lot of adversity and it's going to pay off for him."
Those factors, along with his contributions to the Rhinelander Ice Association's youth hockey program helped Schneider earn the Hobey Baker Award presented by the organization who presents an award of the same name annually to the most outstanding collegiate hockey player. The foundation allows high school programs to honor one senior based on the criteria of coachability, strength of character, integrity, commitment, teamwork, community leadership and outstanding sportsmanship.
Leo Losch assumed the team's scoring title with Joe Schneider sidelined for much of the season, finishing with 71 points on the season (38 goals, 33 assists) en route to first-team All-GNC honors.
"It's not just the goals, it's the intangibles, a lot of things you don't see behind the scenes that he did. As impressive as his point total was, more impressive was his leadership and the character he showed and the role he grew into this year," coach Laggis said.
Belanger was Rhinelander's third 60-plus point scorer this year with 35 goals and 26 assists. He also had a team-high 13 goals on the power play. That was up from 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in Belanger's freshman campaign. That helped him share MIP honors with Layne Roeser, who also saw a big jump in production from his defenseman position. Roeser finished with 15 goals and 20 assists this season after tallying a combined 14 points over his first two varsity seasons.
Sam Schneider, who was typically Roeser's defensive mate, earned the Blue Line award as the team's top defenseman. The junior had seven goals and 17 assists on the year.
"He's the smoothest kid I've had back there that I can remember," coach Laggis said. "I've had a few that are faster. I've had a few that could shoot the puck a little bit harder but, overall, he's probably the smoothest defenseman that I've had. Sam sees the ice unbelievably. He's like Houdini when he's in the corner. There's heat on him, there's traffic on him and he can just escape, escape again and find the opening. He knows when to jump up into the play. He almost always takes a skate at the right time."
The team gave its Hodag Award to Kulhanek and Shefveland for the way they handled their platoon situation at goaltender over the last two seasons.
"I just thought these two guys together embody what we're looking for in team chemistry," coach Laggis said. "In talking with other coaches I've heard so many times about senior goalies that are somewhat comparable and them just shredding the locker room, fighting, parents at each other, players at each other, getting the team to divide and pick sides. I've heard a lot of that, so for these guys to handle themselves the way that they did was absolutely incredible ... They both just performed unbelievably. They both had some huge wins down the stretch and we're not going to be able to replace them right away, that's for sure."
Gavin Denis, the Hustle Award recipient, scored 17 points as the third member of the top like with Leo Losch and Cal Laggis.
Rhinelander set a program record for wins, going 18-7-0 on the season as it finished third in the Great Northern Conference and reached its third straight WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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