Hodag hockey falls to Antigo, finishes 6th in GNC

Antigo put the breaks on the momentum the Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team had gained toward the end of the season. 

The Robins raced out to four goals in the opening period and defeated the Hodags 9-4 in the fifth-place game of the Great Northern Conference tournament Saturday in Mosinee.

After winning three straight games, the Hodags (7-15-0, 2-8-0 Great Northern) settled for sixth in the conference tournament and a tie for sixth in the final overall conference standings with Northland Pines. 

“I would have said we were on a really good roll here getting three in a row. Today was a big setback,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said.

As they did in the first meeting against the Hodags, the Antigo duo of Eli Kassler and Owen Dickman had a field day. They played a role in every Robin goal and racked up 16 points between them on eight goals and eight assists. 

“We had a pretty good idea, on paper anyway, and practice on the ice. We diagramed and watched video on Antigo, how we wanted to go about handling Kassler and Dickman, but just absolutely could not execute it at all. Eli got loose for five goals and (Owen) had three,” Laggis said. 

Senior forward Joey Belanger scored three times for Rhinelander, giving him 30 goals on the season. He also notched his 200th career point in the contest with his second goal of the afternoon, which came late in the second period.

“Joey got the 200th point today and that’s awesome. I’m happy for him, for sure. It’s a great accomplishment,” Laggis said.

Rhinelander outshot Antigo 16-8 in the opening period, but found itself down 4-2 after 17 minutes. Dickman got the scoring started at the 2:45 mark of the opening period before the Hodags answered with Karter Massey’s fourth goal of the year less than a minute later.

From there, the Kassler and Dickman show went into full effect. Kassler scored at the 8:48 mark of the period, Dickman scored short-handed at the 11:49 mark and Kassler made it 4-1 with another tally at the 14:48 mark. 

Kassler, whose 62 goals on the season lead the state, was hard to contain all afternoon.

“They have a very simple defensive zone faceoff play and they do the same thing every time. We were just absolutely unable to make an adjustment and tie up Eli,” Laggis said. “We let him walk time and time again. It turned into odd-man rushes. They make a very simple play at neutral ice that, wherever the puck is, he winds up on the weak side. He flies on open ice, goes wide and they throw the puck long and wide. You know where they’re at and they lit us up on it over and over and over and over.”

Belanger scored with 1:04 remaining in the period as the Hodags trailed 4-2 after one. Antigo scored three unanswered in the second — goals by Kassler, Dickman and Trenton Walbeck — to make it 7-2 before Belanger got one back before the end of the period. 

Kassler tacked on two more goals in the third, including one on the power play with 42 seconds remaining, while Belanger added a power play goal for Rhinelander. 

The Hodags outshot the Robins 37-26 in the contest. Tyler Kimmerling took the loss, stopping only four of the eight shots he faced in the first period. Freshman Asher Rivord played the rest of the way, stopping 13 pucks on 18 chances. 

All-conference honorees

The All-Great Northern Conference team was announced during Saturday’s tournament, with a pair of Hodags earning recognition. Belanger earned second team honors as a forward while his linemate, senior Gavin Denis, received honorable mention.

“They’ve done the lion’s share of our scoring all year and they play really hard,” Laggis said. “In Joey’s case, he’s a sniper. He’s a very good goal scorer. In Gavin’s case, he’s a kid that can play 200 feet, up and down the ice and really work hard. It was nice to see them get recognized.”

Playoffs ahead

The Hodags, the No. 8 seed in the sectional for the WIAA Division 2 tournament, will open postseason play on the road at Tomahawk on Thursday. The Hatchets finished as co-champions in the GNC — forced to share the title after falling to Lakeland 2-0 Saturday night in the conference tournament championship game.

Like Antigo, the Hatchets have a prolific goal scorer in Jonah Dickens, who sits fifth in the state with 38 goals on the year. Six of those goals came in the regular season meeting against Rhinelander, which the Hatchets won 11-4 in Tomahawk back on Nov. 30.

“It’s going to be a lot about getting the job done in the D zone, everyone doing their own job and not someone else’s. We have to make saves. We’re going to have to make some saves and have some good goaltending,” Laggis said. “We’re going to have to have a great Monday at practice, a great Tuesday and Wednesday. We’re going to have to really try to tighten up everything we’re doing and just play better.”

Face-off is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at SARA Park. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].