Team review: RHS boys’ hockey

Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey coach M.J. Laggis figured the 2023-24 season would be a rebuilding one for his squad.

That proved to be the case as the Hodags won just seven games on the year — the first time the team won fewer than 10 games since the 2016-17 campaign. But Laggis also stressed improvement as the season progressed. On that measure, Rhinelander seemed to achieve. 

The Hodags won three of their final four games to close out the regular season. Entering the playoffs as a No. 8 seed, Rhinelander gave eventual state qualifier Tomahawk a scare before falling 5-3.

“We’ve come a long way from where we were in November, I’ll tell you that,” Laggis said following the Hodags’ playoff loss. “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.”

Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.

Growing pains

With only two lines of forwards and one defenseman returning from the prior year’s squad, the Hodags knew they were going to have their hands full early in the season. 

Those struggles, and an overall lack of depth, manifested themselves in a number of third-period letdowns through the first month of the year. 

Beginning with the conference opener against Tomahawk, Rhinelander had four consecutive games in which it allowed at least four goals in the third period, losing them all. 

The third period proved to be a struggle for Rhinelander all season. During January, the Hodags had a stretch where they were either tied or trailing by a goal in the third period in six straight games, only to lose all six.

The team had a minus-18 goal differential in final period, compared to a minus-14 differential in the first period and a plus-5 differential in the second.

Laggis chalked that up to a number of factors, including inexperience and tired legs late in games. 

“We’ve got to be better at every position in the D zone,” he said following a 7-3 loss in December at Pacelli which was tied at 3 with less than 10 minutes remaining. “Our defensemen have got to get a whole lot tighter. In net, we’ve got to get a whole lot better and our forwards have do to do a much better job of supporting the puck. It’s not any one guy but I can say with absolute clarity, every single position in the defensive zone has to get a lot better.” 

Late improvement

Rhinelander showed signs of improvement during January. The Hodags outscored Kingsford, Mich. 2-0 in the third period in a one-goal loss to the Flivvers and then had second-seeded Lakeland on the ropes in the opening round of the conference tournament before falling 5-2. 

Finally, everything came together for the Hodags’ best stretch of the season. Rhinelander started with an emphatic 10-4 win at Shawano/Bonduel and then followed with a commanding 5-1 win at home against Ashland. Then, trailing 1-0 entering the third period in the GNC consolation semifinals at Northland Pines, the Hodags finally had a third period to remember. 

The Hodags scored three times in that period to stun the Eagles 3-2 and move in to the fifth-place game of the conference tournament. 

“We just have stay absolutely focused on trying to improve week in and week out,” Laggis said after the win over Pines. “At times the scoreboard hasn’t shown it. At times we haven’t felt it at practice but we have this week. We’ve really started to feel like what we’re working on is starting to make gains.”

For the record

The 2023-24 season will be remembered in part for the scoring prowess of senior forward Joey Belanger, who reached marks never before seen in the Hodag hockey program.

Belanger recorded his 100th career goal Jan. 16 at Kingsford. He later recorded his 200th career point in the fifth-place game of the GNC tournament against Antigo. 

“It’s a record that will stand, I think, a pretty long time,” Laggis said. “That kid’s a pure shooter, a pure goal scorer … I’ve seen a lot of kids that can shoot the puck and I’ll tell you, Joey Belanger can shoot the puck at a high level in high school hockey.”

Belanger finished his career with 202 total points on 110 goals and 92 assists.

Statbook

Not surprisingly, Belanger was the team’s scoring leader this season, tallying 30 goals and 26 assists. He had plenty of help on the front line with classmate Gavin Denis, who finished the year with 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists). 

The two were Rhinelander’s only all-conference honorees on the season and shared the team’s MVP award, accounting for 63% of the Hodags’ scoring on the year. 

“Between the two of them, they were a wrecking crew for us. They created some synergy at times during games and during shifts,” Laggis said. “They turned some games around and did some things we desperately needed.”

The two also figured prominently in a power play unit that converted on 26.6% of its chances this year. Aside from those two, only three other Hodags reached double digits points on the season — Dalton Fritz (4 goals, 12 assists), sophomore Dylan Shefveland (4 goals, 6 assists) and junior Zach Edyvean (3 goals, 7 assists). 

On the end of the ice, senior Tyler Kimmerling saw the lion’s share of the minutes in net for a second year in a row. He posted a 5-14-0 record with a 5.12 goals against average and a .856 save percentage. 

What’s next

The Hodags don’t graduate a ton of seniors, but the ones they do carry a significant weight. The team must find new players to handle the scoring load following the graduation of Belanger and Denis. The team also bids farewell to one of its top defensemen in Fritz as well as Kimmerling in goal.

Shefveland, Timber Cronauer (6 goals, 1 assist) and Karter Massey (4 goals, 2 assists) will be the top returning forwards for Rhinelander while Edyvean will be counted on to anchor the blue line. Meanwhile, Asher Rivord will have a chance to ascend to Rhinelander’s top goalie next winter. He went 2-1-0 with a 3.75 goals against average and a .839 save percentage this winter. 

Entering the offseason, Laggis’s mantra is the same as it was during the season — constant improvement.

“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 skill in terms of handling the puck, passing the puck, catching the puck and improving shots.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].