Kranig’s four goals lift Chequamegon past Rhinelander in regular season finale

The Rhinelander High School boys’ hockey team had trouble containing the best player for the Chequamegon/Phillips Screaming Eagles and Loggers (SEaLs) and dropped the final game of the regular season as a result.

Kellen Kranig scored four times — including the final three goals to break a 2-all deadlock — as the SEaLs went on to a 5-2 victory over the Hodags Thursday, Feb. 12 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. 

Rhinelander (1-22-0, 1-9-0-0 Great Northern) was hoping for one final win to send its seniors out on a high note — especially after playing the SEaLs to a one-goal game in a 7-6 loss in Park Falls back on Dec. 12 — but Kranig had other ideas. Two of his goals came short-handed and he scored on an empty net with 17.5 seconds remaining to officially extinguish the Hodags’ comeback aspirations. 

“I won’t discredit him at all,” Hodag coach M.J. Laggis said. “We did some things in the offensive zone where return pucks over up high, and we had several opportunities where we had the puck down low in the offensive zone, yet we turned it over high to their pressure. They transitioned up ice really quickly, and that was one of his goals.”

Kranig, whose 45 goals are the fourth-most in the state this season, put the SEaLs ahead for good with 2:28 remaining in the second period as he crashed the net on a 2-on-1 chance and was ready for a point-blank finish off a centering pass from Cole Krause. 

Kranig and Krause hooked up twice more in the final period. They had another breakaway chance 4:14 into the third that Kranig finished on a backhander right in front of the Hodag net. He put the cherry on top with the empty-net tally at the end of the game. 

Rhinelander pulled goalie Connor McGee following a timeout with 2:36 remaining and nearly go back within a goal on two occasions. SEaLs goalie Nick Pesko fell on a point-blank chance from Kadin Rodziczak moments later and senior Dylan Shefveland was denied on a breakaway chance.

“We battled hard, but we just didn’t make enough plays. We certainly had some scoring chances,” Laggis said. “One I thought was in (Rodziczak’s). One, (Pesko) just waved the paddle and knocked it down there at the end. Dylan Shefveland had a hellacious rush up the ice toward the end right there, and we almost scored again. But, you know, we just couldn’t get pucks past him. That’s kind of been the story.”

The Hodags scored first in the contest as Drake Nelson fired home off a tough angle on the end line just 2:17 into the contest. The led held until the 14:37 mark of the first when Krause tied it up for the SEaLs.

Kranig picked off a puck in the Hodags’ defensive zone and beat McGee on a backhander to give Chequamegon a 2-1 lead on a short-handed tally 5:44 into the second period. The lead was short-lived as Carson Plehn scored on the power play moments later, banging home a rebound off assists from Nelson and Shefveland. 

Rhinelander lost despite outshooting Chequamegon 33-23 in the contest. McGee made 18 saves in defeat. 

    Rhinelander’s Ryan Carey takes a faceoff during the third period of a non-conference boys’ hockey game against Chequamegon/Phillips at the Rhinelander Ice Arena Thursday, Feb. 12. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Thursday marked the final home game for the Hodags’ three seniors — Ryan Carey, Logan Leonard and Shefveland. The three were honored during the first intermission and Laggis spoke about all three after the contest.

“Ryan, he was never a varsity hockey player,” Laggis said of the Chippewa Falls transfer. “So for him to get here and play with us was fantastic. And he had an up and down year with injury and whatever, but I’m really glad that he had an opportunity. I really am. 

“Logan is a kid that wants to do anything he can to help the team. And if that means playing forward, if that means playing defense, whatever the case. Part way through the year, we asked him, we just said, ‘Logan, do you mind dropping back and playing some D? We need help.’ And just without reservation, he jumped right back and played and didn’t worry about, well, am I going to score, have point totals or anything like that? He just thought about the team. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that about him. 

“Dylan Shefveland, for my money, he has been so durable, so fast, so consistent. I absolutely think he’s been the energy and the juice on the defensive side of the puck. I know we’ve had some bad games, no doubt about it, score-wise, but there would have been a whole lot worse without him running around out there, just making some fantastic plays up ice.”

The Hodags face the daunting task of taking on top-seeded Northland Pines to open the WIAA playoffs this coming Thursday at the Eagle River Sports Arena. The Eagles defeated the Hodags 14-1 when the teams met in Rhinelander Dec. 2.

“When they were in our building early in the year, they got off to the races fast and scored, and they were still scoring late in the game with their top line. It was a very, very lopsided game,” Laggis said. “Our goal, obviously, is to try to tighten that up every which way that we can, keep it as close as long as we can, because we know that when you do that, it can get dangerous either way toward the end. That’s our goal for sure.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].