A work in progress

Gritty forward Griffon McCarty pushes through the St. Mike’s defence.

Dukes earn a split in weekend games

The Wellington Dukes continue to struggle to put all the pieces together— though there are indications that progress is being made. The problem is the Dukes are in the toughest division in the OJHL—perhaps all of junior hockey—and missed opportunities will be hard to earn back later in the season.

It didn’t help matters that the Dukes were unable to dress three key players on Friday night as they faced the suddenly surging St Michaels Buzzers. Speedy forward Blake Peavey, sturdy defenceman Justin Bean along with the Dukes leading scorer, Abbott Girduckis all watched from the stands. Before the game was a period old—the Dukes had to make do without another key player. Dylan Mascarin did not reappear after the first intermission on Friday night.

Girduckis’s loss was the toughest to swallow.

In the team introductions at the beginning of the game in Cobourg five nights earlier—the referee noticed that Girduckis’s chin strap had not been done up. He was tossed from that game and Friday’s match.

The Dukes dominated the Buzzers from the opening face off. They controlled the play in both ends and created a series of good scoring opportunities. The Dukes failed, only, to put the puck in the net. St. Mikes goalie was good—but not that good. Too many shots whistled wide of the net— sending the play back into the Dukes zone to regroup. Soon it became a pattern. The Dukes squeezed their sticks a bit tighter.

It didn’t help. Passes were off the mark. Shots flew even wider.

With every missed opportunity St. Mike’s confidence grew. At the end of the first period, the Dukes had outshot the Buzzers 14 to nine, but the score was still 0-0.

The Dukes amped up the intensity in the second— but it hurt rather than helped. Passes missed by yards. Hard passes were drilled to empty wings. Battles along the boards were lost.

St. Mikes pounced on the Dukes growing frustration.

Midway through the second, the Buzzers crashed the Dukes net, wildly swinging at the puck until it slipped past goalie Taylor Welsh. It wasn’t pretty—but the Buzzers had the lead.

A moment later, and with forward Josh Supryka in the box for hooking, the Buzzers opened a twogoal lead. A few minutes later St. Mike’s scored again.

Early in the third, Nick Devito scored on a slick play created by Brandon Kosik and Joe McKeown. But that was it.

Speedy blueline Jacob Panetta veers to elude a check by St. Mike’s defenceman Ian Edmundson

Despite outshooting St. Mike’s, the Dukes lost 3-1—a discouraging setback just when they seemed ready to compete with the best in the league.

DUKES 4- BURLINGTON 1
The Dukes found solace in a trip to the other end of Lake Ontario on Sunday afternoon. McKeown scored twice and set up Girduckis’s goal to lead his team to a 4-1 win in Burlington. Olie Lafreniere got the start in net.

McKeown opened up the scoring with a goal just two minutes into the game. The assist on the power play goal went to Andrew Coupland. Midway through the second, the Dukes widened the lead on Girduckis’s goal from McKeown and Mascarin.

Burlington beat Lafreniere later in the period. But the Dukes rebounded quickly, as Ben Sokay notched his second goal as a Wellington Duke, from DeVito and Mascarin.

Midway through the third, McKeown combined with Jacob Panetta and Girduckis to extend the Dukes lead 4-1. The Dukes outshot Burlington 56-30.

UP NEXT: WHITBY AND AURORA
On Friday, the Dukes face division rivals, the Whitby Fury, for the first time this season. The Fury have nine wins in 15 games and are tied with Trenton for third place with 20 points.

Whitby is led by captain Henry Thompson. He is currently the second-leading goal scorer in the league with 14. In net, Whitby is solid with Tyler Feaver managing a respectable 2.43 goals against average. The Fury have a better record on the road than they do in Whitby—that may be because 10 of their first 15 games have been played away from home.

The Dukes will be looking for a strong turnout from their fans as they compete at home for two important points against this divisional opponent.

On Saturday, the Dukes travel to Aurora to face the Tigers. The Tigers have played just nine games so far this season, far fewer than most other teams in the OJHL. They’ve won six of those games. In fact, the Tigers have won their last four games, with victories against tough opponents Whitby and Oakville.