Hodags push Tomahawk in playoff loss

TOMAHAWK — The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team could not pull off a Cinderella upset Thursday night in Tomahawk, but it certainly gave the top-seeded Hatchets much more of a game than it did in the regular season.

Ultimately, a late first-period flurry proved too much for the Hodags to overcome in a 5-3 loss to Tomahawk at SARA Park in the WIAA tournament opener. 

Still, in a rebuilding year with a young squad, Thursday’s game showed how much the Hodags grew over the course of 3 1/2 months — considering Rhinelander lost to Tomahawk 11-4 in the Great Northern Conference opener back on Nov. 30.

“We’ve come a long way from where we were in November, I’ll tell you that,” coach M.J. Laggis said as the Hodags finished 7-15-0 on the season, their first season with fewer than 10 wins since 2016-17. “That’s a team that hung 11 on us the first time and we knew they were going to come out and play like they play. We did a lot of good things, obviously not enough to overcome Tomahawk tonight, but we did a lot of good things, we battled hard.”

Tomahawk controlled play for the most part, outshooting the Hodags 41-19 in the contest. The Hatchets simply had two much firepower for Rhinelander to contain. Logan Seymour finished with two goals and an assist and three other Tomahawk players scored in the game.

Four unanswered goals ultimately proved to be the difference. Caleb Dickens got the run started as he fired a shot between the legs of Hodag goaltender Tyler Kimmerling 8:15 into the opening period. The Hatchets then scored twice, 33 seconds apart, as they took a 3-1 lead after a period. Seymour beat Kimmerling on a wraparound chance at the 14:07 mark of the period and Jonah Dickens scored from the slot a short time later. 

Sawyer Hanna added a goal 1:58 into the second period as the Hatchets took a three-goal lead.

“We definitely have worked hard on our D zone and we played a lot in there tonight. They doubled us on shots,” Laggis said. “We knew what they were going to do on their forecheck, and they did. At times we were able to reverse the puck and go up the weak side. At times we used the center but, by and large, their forecheck was extremely aggressive and took a lot of control. We scrapped, we clawed. We blocked a lot of shots.”

The Hatchets mainly kept Rhinelander’s top line, featuring seniors Joey Belanger and Gavin Denis, in check. Their lone success came midway through the second period as Belanger won a defensive zone faceoff to Zach Edyvean, who launched the puck ahead to Denis on a fly play that led to a breakaway goal and cut the lead to 4-2.

“They did a good job on Joey. Joey did have some opportunities. That line was kept in check. Gavin had a great finish on that fly play that we managed to get by them,” Laggis said.

Seymour scored his second goal after the Hodags struggled to clear the zone with 7:53 to play. Rhinelander got a gasp of life, however, after Hanna took a five-minute major of charging a few moments later. Sophomore Dylan Shefveland scored his fifth goal of the season late in the power play, banging in a rebound off a Riley Squires shot from the point that sailed wide. 

Earlier in the game Squires recorded his second goal of the season, a shot from the point that popped in and out of the glove of Hatchet goalie Trevor Seliskar that gave Rhinelander a 1-0 lead 7:18 into the opening period.

“Riley had the shot that was an over the shoulder, kind of fluke shot, but that’s why you put them on net,” Laggis said. “Dylan Shefveland had a great going-to-the-net rebound-type (goal). That was awesome. Those are the dirty goals you like to see.”

Kimmerling, one of four seniors on the Hodags’ roster, recorded 36 saves in his final high school game. 

    Rhinelander seniors Dalton Fritz (21) and Gavin Denis console each other following a 5-3 loss to Tomahawk in a WIAA Division 2 sectional quarterfinal game in Tomahawk Thursday, Feb. 15. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Afterward, Laggis lauded each of his seniors for their efforts, including Kimmerling, who saw the lion’s share of the starts in goal over his final two years. Laggis credited him for the levity he brough to the locker room. Laggis said defenseman Dalton Fritz played some of his best hockey at the end of the season. 

Belanger tallied an assist Friday night to finish his career with 202 points — 110 goals and 92 assists — the most in school history. In addition to his skill on the ice, Laggis credited Belanger for becoming more of a team player with each passing year and his leadership for the team this season. Laggis praised Denis’ work ethic, and his aspirations to continue playing hockey beyond high school.

“He’s one of just a handful of kids in our town that’s really driven to play hockey after high school and I’m going to be really curious to see how it goes and hoping to help him along the way,” Laggis said.

Those four will leave significant void for the Hodags next year and Laggis said an offseason of development for the returning players will be critical for the team to remain competitive next year.

“The biggest thing is getting that presence in the weight room,” Laggis said. “We have some spring ice opportunities I’ve already been working on just trying to get these kids as many ice touches as possible and try to drive skill into them. It’s an inexperienced group and, at this point, there’s a lot of room — and I mean a lot of room — to grow good skills in terms of handling the puck, passing the puck, catching the puck and improving shots.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].