Righting the ship

Dukes GM stresses transparency, culture and community in his debut

In his three years as a Wellington Duke, Jacob Panetta anchored a hard and fast defence. He will need all of his toughness, determination and speedy decision-making as a playmaker in his new leadership role with the team.

The Dukes are a storied name in junior hockey in Canada. The team has earned a berth in the playoffs in each of its 37 years in the league. The Dukes have vied for the national championship twice. It competes against hockey centres many times the size of the village. The Dukes are hockey royalty.

Aspiring hockey players choose Wellington so that they can wear the Dukes jersey. It has long been a development stepping stone for a college or pro career. It is a badge of pride throughout their lives.

But the team has struggled in recent years under current ownership. When commitments weren’t met and obligations piled up, the coach and a handful of players bailed on the Dukes in the 2023 offseason, taking their talents to Trenton and beyond. This past season, overdue bills—ice time, billet expenses and such—continued to pile up. It led to another exodus of staff and players.

Faced with the possible shuttering of the franchise, Jacob Panetta, along with Chris Miles, has stepped up to steer the Dukes away from oblivion.

It was never about the fans. Or the community. Wellington and Dukes fans have been the sturdy rock upon which the team has clung in these choppy years. Game attendance has remained among the highest in the league. And even as the team occasionally appeared to falter, the Dukes enjoyed powerful support from the local business community and the municipality.

Panetta took on the role of General Manager and Coach just a few weeks ago. Chris Miles is managing the business of the franchise while working to identify a potential new ownership group.

Together, the pair addressed a meeting of fans and volunteers at a gathering at the rink on Friday night. Neither attempted to dress up the task before them as anything less than an enormous challenge. They were respectful and earnest in their appeal to the scores of fans gathered at the arena.

Panetta admitted that his late start means the team is behind in signing players, but added he was determined not to be the first Dukes GM to fail to lead the team to the playoffs.

Miles said he didn’t know where the team owner was, but was nevertheless working through a mound of financial obligations. He assured the gathering that, based on his experience, the owner pays his bills, that it is a matter of when, not if.

Two issues aroused considerable interest among the faithful.

Panetta confirmed that the team was returning to the traditional Dukes jerseys for the upcoming season. Gone is the fanciful D jerseys. Back are the standard red jerseys for home games. White for road games. Panetta describes the Dukes logo as a global brand—inasmuch as Dukes fans each have a story of having their team logo recognized while visiting faraway lands.

Panetta also assured the gathering that there would be more Friday night games in the upcoming season. Not as many as in past seasons—the team came to the table too late to optimize the schedule—but an improvement over last season when one of the league’s crown jewels was thrust out to play any random night of the week.

Panetta and Miles have a lot of work to do to restore this franchise to a stable footing, but the pair made a good first impression on Friday night. Winning this crowd of fans was the easy part, however. The community wants the Dukes to succeed. Assembling a competitive team is the next big task.

Panetta and Miles made an appeal for volunteers and billet families to assist them in the upcoming season. Folks interested in helping out are encouraged to reach out to the team at wellingtondukes.com