Christmas gift

Josh Supryka contorts mightily trying to put the puck in the Kingston net.

Dukes deliver win against Kingston

Michael Mulvihill, the principal owner of the Wellington Dukes, addressed the team, their parents and billet families on Sunday. He recalled that, shortly after he aquired the club, Diane Lavender advised him, in no uncertain terms and regardless of any other ambition he might have for the team—the Dukes had to beat Kingston.

Mulvihill felt safe in telling this story since the Dukes had just defeated the Voyageurs for the second time in December. Victory over Kingston always taste sweeter in Wellington.

The 4-1 win over Kingston will surely help rinse away the sour taste of two road losses last week in Cobourg and Trenton—two games in which they failed to score a single goal. The Dukes are now off for two weeks—returning early in January to mount a charge to the playoffs.

When they return, Wellington will have just 19 games left—10 on the road—to close in on Stouffville and Newmarket for the final playoff spots in the North East conference.

TRENTON 8 – DUKES 0
With just four defencemen in the lineup and their captain in the stands serving a suspension, the Dukes held off the assault from powerful offensive opponent for a long time. In fact, it wasn’t until the final minute of the first period that Trenton beat Taylor Welsh.

Two more in the second. The Dukes managed to match the Golden Hawks nearly shot-for-shot, but the game was getting away from them. In the third, the roof caved in. Five more goals for Trenton. A game best forgotten.

DUKES 4 – KINGSTON 1
The Dukes had captain Joe McKeown back on Sunday, but were still short two defencemen, Jacob Panetta and Brody Morris, who were heading home, along with forward Abbott Girduckis and coach Marty Abrams, with the Bronze Medal from the 2014 World Junior A Challenge held in Kindersley Saskatchewan over the last two weeks

Kingston, too, limped into Wellington with a depleted line up on Sunday. Their two leading scorers were with Team Canada East, while injury had sidelined four other Voyageur players.

Will Cook had a goal and an assist to help his team past the Kingston Voyageurs.

Yet through the first period, both teams skated up and down the ice—barely penetrating their opponents defences—kept to the outside. But late in the period, Dukes forward Luc Brown was looking for a passing lane as the defence in front of him collapsed. He took a stride toward the net, picked his spot on the short side and fired. The Dukes had the lead.

Midway through the second, Kingston scored to tie the game. It would stay tied until the third. Then the Dukes took control. Jacob Hetherington moved the puck up to McKeown who broke into the Kingston zone with Will Cook on the far wing. It was a two on one. Not a fair fight. McKeown lifted a perfect saucer, cross ice, onto the stick of Cook. One well-practiced shot later, the Dukes had the lead again

A little later, Cook brought the puck to the net. McKeown swatted at the rebound. 3-1. With three minutes to go and and down two goals, Kingston pulled their netminder. The Dukes withstood the pressure, keeping back until Griffin McCarty broke loose on the left wing. Guarding the puck, the young forward patiently, yet forcefully pushed up the wing with a defender hammering at him the entire way. Still in the neutral zone, he skillfully backhanded the puck into the middle of the empty net.

UP NEXT: CHRISTMAS BREAK
When the Dukes come back in January, they will have their sights firmly set on the North Conference. Math doesn’t come into the equation yet—but it is hard to see the Dukes overtaking any of the teams in the east. All four teams ahead of them have won more than two thirds of their games so far. Same story for Aurora in the North conference. Remember that the top eight teams from the North and East divisions will qualify for post-season play.

As we break for the holidays, both second-place Stouffville and third-place Newmarket have more points and a better winning percentage than the Dukes. Pickering is still in the hunt, just four points back of the Dukes.

The Dukes will want to do more than just sneak in the final spot. Many Dukes fans have predicted that with the  talent on this team, a long winning streak is overdue. With everyone back and healthy, January holds much promise in Dukesland.

THIS DAY IN DUKES HISTORY
December 17, 2010

At long last the Wellington Dukes were going to play their inaugural game at the brand new Essroc Arena.  Their opponent would be the Whitby Fury, and the feeling was this was going to be a close, low-scoring game, which was exactly how it turned out.

A spectacular opening ceremony in front of a full house of approximately 1400 people was followed by the official puck drop in what some fans fondly call the new Dukedome.  The speedy Dukes forwards caused the Fury to pick up a penalty, putting the home side on the power play.  Following some pretty tic-tac-toe passing, Zach Blake scored the very first goal in the new arena, assisted by Brian Bunnett and Steve Evans.

The middle frame saw sniper Darcy Murphy up the lead to two, with helpers going to Bunnett and defenceman Curtis Leonard.  The final period had the visitors fight back to narrow the gap to just one with about four minutes left in the game.  Despite tremendous pressure from the Fury, Dukes goaltender Jordan Ruby shut the door, and Evans popped in the insurance marker, with assists going to Brendan Barletta and captain Sean Rudy.  Make the final Dukes 3, Whitby 1.

After the game, the Dukes booster club hosted their annual Christmas dinner where the players received gifts and then went home for the schedule break.  They would return in about a week to start the second half of the season that saw the franchise win its second OJHL playoff championship as well as its second Dudley Hewitt Cup championship.

From my family to yours, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!