Uphill

Defenceman Carter Allen pitches in to help netminder Olivier Lafrenière block the Dukes’ net on Friday night’s 3-1 loss to Kingston.

Dukes struggle to turn speed advantage into wins over slower, bigger teams

Mama said there would be days like this. The Wellington Dukes are a fast-skating, exciting team. They are, as a group, also quite a young team. Eager, enthusiastic, hard working. They are fun to watch and their exuberance is infectious.

But when the Dukes struggle to score against bigger, older, lumbering teams like the Kingston Voyageurs, as they did last week, it signals a potentially long season for the Dukes’ faithful.

To be clear, Kingston is a pale shadow of its glory days. But what they lack in skill, they make up for in size and experience. The Voyageurs have five players tipping the scales at more than 200 pounds—four of them on defence—each liberally dishing out punishment in the corners. The Dukes have just one—Carter Allen at 205 pounds. The Vees have eight 20-year-olds. The Dukes have four. And so it goes.

After a couple periods, that imbalance is bound to take a toll. And so it did in both ends of a home-and-away series last week.

Luc Brown shares the points lead with Jake Falcao at eight—though Brown has played one fewer game.

LOSS ON THE ROAD
The Dukes got off to a shaky start in Kingston on Thursday night, with Olivier Lafreniere back from OHL—for the time being—in a Wellington jersey. The Voyageurs jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period. Then the Dukes settled down, taking the play to the Vees. Early in the second period, Luc Brown scored on a Chase St- Aubin set-up to narrow the Kingston lead to a goal. In the third, Kingston restored its two-goal lead before Jake Falcao scored from the blueline. It was as close as the Dukes would come. They would look for a better result at their homeopener.

LOSS AT HOME
The Dukes showed up on Friday night in front of their hometown fans, ready to impress. Through extended stretches of the first period, the Dukes simply wouldn’t permit Kingston out of its own end. The Dukes skillfully broke up passes in the neutral zone and skated around the giant defencemen. But they couldn’t score.

Typically bad things follow dominant, yet scoreless, efforts. And they did.

But not before well-travelled forward Dylan Mascarin tipped a Falcao shot, earning the Dukes the lead. But that was it.

Despite a slew of power play chances, the Dukes couldn’t widen the lead. Kingston scored late in the second and twice more in the third—in each case overpowering the Dukes defence.

The only celebration came from a Voyageurs fan’s lonely cowbell.

EKING OUT A WIN
The Dukes travelled to Lindsay on Sunday afternoon with Lafreniere in net for his third start in a row. Again, Wellington pushed hard in the first period, but came up empty. Then in the second, the Muskies scored. It seemed the Dukes were following the same script that had led to defeat in its previous two games.

But midway through the period, Brown set up Ben Sokay and the game was tied. For another 38 minutes, the Dukes and Muskies skated back and forth with only a couple of loud clangs off the post to show for their efforts. Then, with the game seemingly bound for overtime, Brown found Mascarin in front of the Muskies’ net at the end of a power play. The wily forward shovelled the puck in the net for the win.

HE’S BACK
It was Mascarin’s second goal in his second game back in a Dukes uniform. Mascarin was dealt last October to the Dudley Hewitt Cup host Fort Frances Lakers in exchange for Will Cook. Mascarin, however, opted to stay in southern Ontario, eventually suiting up for the Kanata Stallions of the CCHL. The 20-year-old has played on five teams in four leagues in his junior hockey career. Dukes fans are looking for Mascarin to stick in Wellington this time. To do that, he will need to keep putting the puck in opposing team’s nets.

Brown and Falcao currently share the Dukes’ points lead; each with eight.

UP NEXT: GOVERNOR’S SHOWCASE AND ST. MIKES
The Governor’s Showcase tournament is a series of OJHL games all played in the same arena over a couple days. It enable scouts and recruiters to observe the league’s talent without travelling to every rink. Traditionally, the event was held on a weekend over the course of two days. But in an odd and inexplicable twist, the Governor’s Showcase is being held over three days in the middle of the week—in Buffalo. In what appears to be an ill-concieved plan, some teams will have to travel to the host city twice in three days, playing on Tuesday and then again on Thursday. Players still in school will miss several days of classes.

The Dukes have a comparatively easier schedule. Wellington faced the North York Rangers on Tuesday night. They will take on the Oakville Blades tonight.

On Friday Wellington hosts the St. Michael’s Buzzers in the County. St. Mikes has two wins and three losses in five games so far. Game time is 7:30 p.m.