Hodag hockey pulls away from Shawano in opener

Though coach M.J. Laggis sees this year’s Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team as a much greener squad than the teams that posted 18 wins in each of the last two seasons, last Tuesday’s regular season opener finished positively for the squad.

Gavin Denis and Joey Belanger each scored twice in the game and the Hodags used three third-period goals to pull away from Shawano in a 5-1 win at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.

Scoreless after one period, the Hodags jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the second before putting the Hawks away over the final 17 minutes.

“We had a lot of trouble doing much in the first period in terms of getting really good, quality chances. We got shots on net, but not quality,” Laggis said. “The second period we were able to get a couple and then gave one up. We really took control in the third, I thought, and put the game away.”

    Rhinelander’s Zach Edyvean reacts to the puck after it was chipped away by Shawano’s Wyatt Schroeder during the first period of a non-conference boys’ hockey game at the Rhinelander Ice Arena Tuesday, Nov. 21. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Belanger and Denis, the top two returning scorers from last year’s team made an immediate impact. Denis scored twice on the power play. Belanger’s two goals gave the senior 82 in his RHS career and he added a pair of assists in the third period. The two, along with lineman Zach Edyvean, had a strong opener for the team.

“I thought Joey and Gavin and Zach, that line, carried the show, for sure, and Dalton Fritz, defensively had a really good night,” Laggis said.

Denis put the Hodags on the board just 15 seconds into the second period as he took a pass from Fritz in the corner, skated to the left faceoff dot and fired a shot through traffic. Belanger gave Rhinelander a two-goal lead at the five-minute mark of the period as he carried the puck down to the right corner and then stickhandled around the Shawano defense to the top of the slot before burying a wrist shot. 

A young Hodag defense played fairly well, limiting the Hawks to 20 shots in the contest. The one blemish came at the 11:32 mark of the second as Gavin Hundt was left open on the backside of the play. Karson Stross hit Hundt on a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone and Hundt skated in for a breakaway goal.

“They all had good moments and moments where they’ve just got to keep getting better and keep improving,” Laggis said of his defense. “The thing I like is it’s a young defensive core and a group of guys that are just trying to get better every day. We have a lot to work with, with those guys. That’s a good thing. There’s going to be some bumps in the road, no doubt. We’ve certainly got to work on taking care of space in neutral ice and not letting guys get behind us.”

Rhinelander nearly came away empty from a 5-on-3 power play chance early in the third period, but Denis scored with 12 seconds remaining on the man advantage to put Rhinelander up 3-1. He grabbed the puck from Belanger, who was tied up in the corner, skated to the right faceoff dot and fired a shot top shelf.

Belanger added to the lead at the 6:49 mark of the third, getting in front of the net for a finish after Edyvean forced a turnover at the Shawano blue line, setting up a 2-on-1 chance for Rhinelander. Sophomore Levi Forster rounded out the scoring with his first varsity goal. Playing with the second line at that point, Belanger was denied on a breakaway chance, but gathered the rebound behind the net and fed it to a wide-open Forster at the top of the crease.

“Really happy for Levi to have his first career goal,” Laggis said. “That second line started a little bit rough tonight, playing nervous, not handling the puck, slapping the puck around, playing tentative. I was really happy to see that they just got better as it went. They got a lot more confident as the game went and that was really good to see.”

Senior Tyler Kimmerling made 20 saves in the win for Rhinelander and was protected relatively well by a young defensive unit. Fritz is the lone player back on the blue line who saw significant varsity ice time a season ago. In particular, Laggis said freshman Gabe Kennedy acquitted himself well in his varsity debut.

“Gabe Kennedy, as a defenseman, has really shown that he can be a contributor here in the future,” he said. “He’s young and has got a lot to learn, but I was his really impressed with his intensity tonight and play.”

Rhinelander was set to play Amery and St. Paul Johnson (Minn.) in Amery over the holiday weekend in games that concluded after press time for today’s edition. The Hodags will return to action Thursday night when they open Great Northern Conference play at Tomahawk.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].