Wobbly start

September reveals gaps in the Dukes game

It is hard to know what to make of the Wellington Dukes at the end of the first month of the regular season. For that matter, it is equally hard to figure the entire OJHL.

After 11 games the Dukes have lost as many games as they’ve won, with only Friday’s draw against Trenton, nudging them over the .500 line. After burning Mississauga 9-0 and a come-from-behind win against Buffalo more than a week ago, the Dukes failed to win a game in three following starts. In each match, however, with the exception of Sunday’s egg in North York, the Dukes might have expected better outcomes.

It is not as though any team is charging to the fore, so far in the season. Not yet, anyway. Aurora, Oakville, Cobourg and Toronto Junior Canadiens are each leading their respective divisions, but the performance of the teams chasing them tails off sharply toward mediocrity.

Former Dukes player, Ethan Cardwell looks for the loose puck, as Olivier Lafreniere along with Dukes defencemen David Paluch (6) and Quinn Hanna (out of frame) secure the front of the net.

Is this the season of OJHL parity? One in which any team can pull out a victory on any given game? While that may be more wishful thinking for Lindsay, Milton or Etobicoke (home of the Toronto Patriots) it is shaping up as a very competitive league, if September is a measure.

One surprise is surely Pickering. The Panthers pushed the Dukes to seven games in the first round of the playoffs last spring. It was arguably one of the toughest series on the way to Dudley Hewitt Cup for the Wellington Dukes. Pickering’s success was built on a solid structure, team discipline and committed energy. So far in the new season, Pickering has just two wins in eight starts. There may be a goaltending issue— the team is allowing four goals to be scored on average per game. It may be penalties. Special teams. It is hard to know. But Pickering was expected by many to lead the North Division this season. On their current track, however, the Panthers risk falling out of the hunt before the snow flies.

Which brings us to the Dukes over the past week. They battled a tough team in Aurora. It was a fairly balanced game—the Dukes giving as much as they got. After giving up a goal in the first, Dawson Ellis and Keenan Eddy combined to tie the game in the second. Aurora pushed ahead early in the first, and the Dukes could not come up with a response, mustering just six shots in the third period.

On Friday night the Dukes were at home to face the Trenton Golden Hawks. The Dukes put forth a good effort, and were the more deserving team, but came away with only a draw. Trenton’s Mackenzie Warren exacted a bit of revenge upon his former team, setting up his linemate, Mason Hardy, whose shot sailed through traffic, past Olivier Lafreniere into the Dukes net.

In the second frame, the Dukes turned up the juice, using their speed and a tough forecheck to take back control. Jacob Vreugdenhil’s speed instigated one such rush, carrying the puck deep into the Trenton zone. To Elijah Gonsalves, who slipped behind the net, before finding Tyson Gilmour alone in the slot. Pass. Shot. Game tied.

A moment later, Andrew Rinaldi skated up the wing with the puck. The Trenton defender aimed to cut him off along the wall. Rinaldi pushed the puck a few feet ahead, and then powered his way through the defender, picking up the puck on the other side. Pass to the slot. Gonsalves’s shot. The Dukes had the lead.

Midway through the third, the Dukes extended their lead when Dalton Bancroft, escaped the scrum along the wall, deep in Golden Hawk territory. Bancroft found Ben Woodhouse in front of the net. The Dukes led 3-0.

Then the mistakes. And some bad penalties. A couple of bad calls.

A bad giveaway in the Dukes zone, led directly to a Trenton goal, now within a goal of tying the game. Then, with less than five minutes remaining in the game, Gonsalves, at the end of a long shift made the ill-advised decision to finish his check shoulder to shoulder with the Trenton defender. The problem is Gonsalves is about a foot shorter than this particular player. He leapt into his check. That is a penalty, no matter what, despite the mismatch in size.

Then a particularly brutal call. New Dukes defenceman Quinn Hanna was killing the ensuing penalty. Working hard in the corner. The ref’s arm went up in the air. Cross-checking penalty against Hanna. The Dukes were now down two players.

Trenton managed to tie the game, before the first penalty expired. The Dukes held off the assault to escape regulation time with a draw. In the overtime period the Dukes penalties kept coming. Two for slashing. One for interference.

But after two overtime periods nothing was settled.

Except this. If the Dukes continue to lead the league in penalty minutes, they will have to become better on special teams. Currently, they are below the middle of the pack in terms of power play goals, and only average penalty killers.

Or, they might try to reduce the frequency at which they play shorthanded.

UP NEXT: COBOURG, AURORA AND TORONTO
No turkey for the Dukes this weekend as they will spend Saturday and Sunday on the road—against the leaders of the North and South Divisions.

But before then, the Dukes have the chance to edge closer to the East-leading Cobourg Cougars. Wellington won the first meeting of these teams, in an overtime 5-4 decision, on September 7. With one other overtime loss, the Cougars haven’t lost a game in eight starts.

The Dukes will need all of their speed and forechecking tenacity to get past the bigger and older Cougars.

On Saturday, the Dukes head to Aurora for their second match in the northern Toronto suburbs in a couple of weeks. The Dukes will need to find ways to penetrate the Tigers’ zone more effectively and throw shots on net.

Then on Sunday the Dukes return to the GTA to face off against the Toronto Junior Canadiens. Toronto has equipped itself with a potent offence—with three shooters in the OJHL’s top ten goalscorers—and a competent penalty killing capability.