Hodag hockey strikes early, downs SEaLs 6-2

A young Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team earned an early-season shot in the arm Tuesday night against another inexperienced squad looking to find its way. 

Drake Nelson scored twice and had a pair of assists, while Dylan Shefveland had a goal and two helpers, as the Hodags raced past Chequamegon/Phillips 6-2 in non-conference play at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.

Rhinelander scored three times in each of the first two periods and outshot the Screaming Eagles and Loggers (SEaLs) 45-18 in the contest to earn a bounce back win after falling in the 5-1 in the season opener at Shawano a week earlier.

“I was happy that we jumped on them early, scored three goals and kind of had that momentum going,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said afterward. “I thought we caught more passes by far tonight than we did a week ago. So that’s a big step. I thought we made better passes tonight than we did a week ago and, in particular, I thought we got a lot of pucks to the net that we wouldn’t have gotten there a week ago. So there was some growth right there. We’ve got to keep getting better.”

Nelson broke the game open with a pair of goals roughly two and half minutes apart in the second period that gave the Hodags a 5-1 advantage. He also assisted on a pair of Rhinelander’s first-period tallies as the Hodags led 3-0 after 17 minutes. 

Nelson’s first helper came on a scrum in front of the net 4:30 into the contest. Shefveland picked up the rebound off a Nelson point-blank chance and buried it from the top of the crease to give Rhinelander the lead. 

Kadin Rodziczak scored unassisted at the 11-minute mark and the Hodags scored again just 28 seconds later as Nelson skated behind the net and found a wide open Timber Cronauer streaking toward the goal for the finish. 

Kalan Chuzles scored twice for the SEaLs (0-3-0), including a tally off a turnover 2:24 into the second that cut Rhinelander’s lead to two, but Nelson and the Hodags responded. Nelson finished a rebound chance from Shefveland at the 6:15 mark of the period and snuck one past SEaLs goaltender Nick Pesko on the power play at the 8:51 mark. 

Nelson, a sophomore, already has three goals and two assists through two games on the season — matching his point total from the entire 2023-24 campaign. 

“He’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas of the hockey rink. He’s probably the most coachable kid that have been around in a while — and is it absolutely team-centered,” Laggis said. “I mean, he’s all about the team. He’s all about the guys in the locker room. If you’re going to give away a player of the game after the game, when the guys do that in locker after a win, they love giving it to Drake because of what Drake brings. He’s just so unselfish and works hard.”

Senior Zach Edyvean had the final tally for the Hodags, scoring on a one-timer from Shefveland with a minute remaining in the second period. Chuzles added his second goal for the SEaLs 2:50 into the third, but Chequamegon drew no closer. 

Rhinelander cruised in the contest despite committing eight penalties. The Hodags killed all eight Chequamegon power play chances, many of them ending before the SEaLs could set up a sustained forecheck or generate any shots on goal.

“Yeah, you know our kill is getting better. I feel like we got a little bit more of a concept of how we want to go about it,” Laggis said. “It’s hard with the penalties that we took tonight. I’m never going to point the finger at anyone but for us its penalties. But, I just thought there were some that were pretty ticky-tack to say the least. But, you know, others were well-deserved. So we got to clean that up, big time.”

Asher Rivord made 16 saves in the win for Rhinelander, which improved to 1-1-0 on the season. 

The Hodags appeared to dodge the injury bug despite hits in the third period that caused both Edyvean and Rodziczak to leave the ice gingerly. Both returned to the contest later in the period.  

The Hodags opened Great Northern Conference play at Antigo Thursday night in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander is back home tomorrow to face Oshkosh in a 4 p.m. matinee.

Laggis said, early in the season, the team’s mindset is less about focusing on each opponent, rather making sure it is playing more consistently from shift to shift. 

“I do think, you know, one thing that’s kind of becoming a pattern is just the ebbs and flows of a period for us,” he said. “We play really, really well for three shifts in a row, and then all of a sudden we’re just not moving our feet and not making plays and getting beat up in our defensive zone for a little while after that. So got to be more consistent for sure.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].