Speed kings

The Dukes use all the quickness they can muster to outmanoeuvre their bigger opponents

Nothing comes easy. And after the first week of the regular season, the Dukes are sitting on a pair of wins. The outcome of each match, however, might easily have gone the other way. It was that close. In both games, the Dukes trailed their opponents in the late going— setting up dramatic comebacks. If you’re not at the rink, you are missing some entertaining hockey.

Cobourg’s netminder, Dershahn Stewart, searches for the puck that Ben Woodhouse (26) tipped through his pads, on a point shot by Elijah Gonsalves, in the second period on Friday night.

Some early observations. Like the past Dukes team, this squad is blazingly fast. So quick that the passes still tend to lag the skater—but that will come. When they do connect-at-speed, it is a breathtaking thing— both for fans and for opposing players.

Dukes forwards are small. When they move the puck quickly, their speed more than makes up for the mismatch in physical mass. But when the decision to pass or dump the puck comes a second too late, they are vulnerable to the slow-footed hulks.

This tends to lead to penalties. Just two games into the season, Wellington has surged to the top of the penalty-minutes ranking.

Dan Panetta. This kid is a dynamo on the ice. Just 17 years old and his second season with the Dukes, the Colgate-bound forward is menace to the opposing team’s puck carriers. He is extremely skilled and increasingly confident in sniffing out the chances to strip the puck. Like a predator, he senses intuitively that the player in front of him is vulnerable and will, if pressured, cough up the puck. Then he systematically removes their options until they surrender the puck to him.

On one shift on Sunday, Panetta created a turnover in the Georgetown end. Speed and tenacity. A good scoring chance. And when the puck came down to the Dukes’ zone, it was number 12 who cornered the puck carrier, taking it away from him and clearing the zone.

The speed and skill of the 2018/2019 Dukes may mask the need to do the painful grunt work in front of the opposing netminder. It is early yet, but the slick plays and hyper speed is likely only to get them so far. They will need a stronger commitment in the blue paint. The greasy goals count the same as the highlight reel markers.

DUKES 5 – COBOURG 4 OT
The first goal of the season was a beauty. Just like it was drawn up. Ben Addison, Matt Usinger and Nick Abbott crossing the blue line in a coordinated wave. Abbott pass to Addison. Addison’s hard shot. Post. Rebound to Usinger. Open net. Goal. It came with such seeming ease and elegance it felt like they might do this all game long.

But Cobourg tightened up. A lot closer. Working harder. They had been through this a week earlier in exhibition.

More worryingly, the Dukes began accumulating penalty minutes. With both Madoka Suzuki and Zach Nelson in the penalty box, Cobourg scored to knot the game at one goal apiece.

The Cougars came out after the first intermission with something to prove. The Dukes fell back on their heels. They collapsed in their own end and soon the puck was behind Olivier Lafreniere.

Moments later however, Panetta had the puck, smoothly weaving through the neutral zone. Pass to Jacob Vreugdenhil. Slick backhand shot. In tight. Up high. The game was tied.

The Dukes were applying pressure. Suzuki picked up the puck in the neutral zone, found another gear and blazed past the Cobourg team for a stellar scoring chance. But it was as though the Dukes had stopped skating to admire Suzuki’s rush. The Cougars rushed the puck back up the ice and beat Lafreniere to regain the lead. A minute later the Cougars were up by two goals.

Yet it remained eminently possible the Dukes could wrestle back this match. And before long the Dukes were on the good side of a five-on – three man advantage. Ben Addison tipped Elijah Gonsalves’ shot from the point to narrow the gap to a goal.

Six minutes into the third, Suzuki caught the Cougars napping while on the power play. He stole the puck behind the Cobourg net, and in a heartbeat reached around to tuck it into the net. Before the netminder knew what had happened, the game was tied.

When he churns his legs, Andrew Rinaldi is a formidable force as he surges toward the net. Rinaldi scored the winning goal in overtime in the Dukes season opener on Friday night.

The Cougars certainly had their chances in overtime, with Lafreniere called upon to make a handful of impressive saves. But it was Ben Woodhouse who would make the most impressive save, snatching the puck from the gaping maw beside Lafreniere. Woodhouse tossed the puck into the neutral zone. Andrew Rinaldi was already on his horse, racing up ice. Ahead of everyone. Shift. Shot. Goal. Dukes win 5-4.

DUKES 6 – GEORGETOWN 4
On Sunday the Raiders, coached by Scott Mc- Crory, visited Wellington.

The Dukes grasped the reins early, outshooting Georgetown 16 to eight in the first period. But no goals. Chances, yes. But no goals. Despite four power play opportunities.

Early in the second period, Brett Humberstone made a diving sweep at the puck, interrupting a Raider pass. Nick Abbott scooped up the loose puck and was alone on a break. Five Georgetown Raiders hot in pursuit. Nice move. Shot. Dukes had the lead

But moments later another defensive zone lapse and the puck was behind Lafreniere.

It looked like this game would be decided by the next goal. It wasn’t. Early in the third, Panetta finished a Tyson Gilmour play to extend the Dukes’ lead. Midway through that period, the Raiders’ own dynamo, Josh Nixon, buried two shots in succession. Georgetown had retaken the lead.

But boys will talk. When one Raider was penalized for slashing a couple minutes later, another earned his own penalty for abuse of official. Two minutes of a five-onthree advantage. Tyson Gilmour capitalized. The Dukes had tied the game again. A moment later Zach Uens’ shot found its way into the Raiders net from the point. Keenan Eddy buried the empty-net goal, served up by his netminder, Olivier Lafreniere.

UP NEXT: BRANTFORD AND BRAMPTON

In the off season, the Milton Icehawks moved out to the countryside, seeking better prospects in the land of Gretzky. The 99ers, as the Brantford club is christened, will visit Wellington on Friday night. In their lone game as of Monday, Brantford defeated the Burlington Cougars 7-4.

On Sunday in another matinee game, the Brampton Admirals, another team trying its luck in a new town, will visit the Dukes in Wellington. Formerly the Orangeville Flyers, the Admirals were defeated in their first two games this season.