Northland Pines overwhelms RHS in GNC hockey opener

The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team could not slow down Northland Pines Tuesday night as the Eagles defeated the Hodags 14-1 in the Great Northern Conference opener at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.

The floodgates flew open for the Eagles with three goals over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the second period as they took a 8-0 lead. Pines didn’t let up in the third, scoring six more goals — including two in the final 30 seconds of the contest. 

“They piled on three goals in the last couple of minutes with their top players. It was very difficult, to say the least,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. “They took control. They’re a better team and they just absolutely laid it on as hard as they could.”

The Hodags (0-2-0, 0-1-0-0 Great Northern) held their own for much of the first period. Josh Graves opened the scoring for Pines 7:21 into the opening stanza and the Eagles tacked on two more goals in the final four minutes of the period. Sam Shrock scored the first of his three goals on the night at the 13:03 mark and Jazek Jantzen tacked on another 33 seconds later as the Hodags trailed 3-0 after the first. 

“Even though we were getting out shot handily, obviously, at that point, we were competing really well, and we were doing some good things in the defensive zone,” Laggis said. “We really played a pretty decent first period of hockey. Our wings were in good position in the D zone. Our defensemen were making some nice plays. We were poking some pucks, chipping some pucks, getting some pucks out, going the other way, and battling.”

Graves scored twice in the second-period, including a short-handed goal moments into a five-minute major head contact penalty by Bodie Bakken. Shrock, Michael Schmidt and Oliver DePuydt also scored in the stanza. 

Shrock led off the scoring or the Eagles just 2:14 into the third. Schmidt, Jantzen, Cash Powell, Royce Remme and Collin Reynolds also scored for Pines. 

Rhinelander’s lone goal came from senior Drake Nelson — the team’s leading scorer from last season — with 1:29 remaining in the contest. The Hodags were outshot 62-13 in the game. 

“Then the second period, it was just a like a light switch. We just stopped doing what we were doing, and that’s one of the worst that I’ve ever been a part of getting outshot in my career. And certainly one of the worst beatings,” Laggis said. “We had some players that had good shifts. We had some players that had good little runs within the game where they were playing hard. But, by and large, our compete level was nowhere near where it needs to be. And so that’s our starting point. We got to start competing harder and showing up to play.”

Freshman goalie Connor McGee was under fire all night long for Rhinelander and finished with a career-high 48 saves.

“Connor McGee, our freshman goalie, fantastic attitude, played absolutely gutty hockey, never quit the entire game,” Laggis noted. “I mean, I was really proud of him. Yeah, he gave up a lot of goals, but on just a ton of shots. That was a big, bright light tonight. His compete level and his attitude was excellent.”

Things didn’t get any easier for the Hodags in GNC play on Thursday as they traveled to Tomahawk to take on the reigning WIAA Division 2 state champion Hatchets in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander wraps up a three-game week on the road at Oshkosh on Saturday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].