Campaign begins

For the first time an exhibition OHL game took place on Saturday night at the Essroc Centre in Wellington when the Belleville Bulls hosted the Kingston Frontenacs. Before the game a ceremonial puck drop was held to mark the occasion. Taking part in the ceremony are Luke Judson, Belleville Bulls captain; Gord Simmonds, Belleville Bulls team owner; Prince Edward County Mayor, Peter Mertens; Wellington Dukes team owner, Michael Mulvihill; and Derek Froats, Kingston Frontenacs captain.

Dukes open a new season on Friday

The Wellington Dukes settled for a pair of wins in four games in the Woodchuck Classic tournament in Vermont on the weekend. It was the team’s weakest result in the pre-season tournament since 2006, the year they began making the annual pilgrimage to the Green Mountains. That first year they won just a single game. In an odd twist, two of the teams that tripped up the Dukes in 2006—the Bay State Breakers and New Hampshire Monarchs—handed the Dukes their losses in 2011.

The tournament started well enough for the Dukes as they rolled to a 6-3 win over the Boston Junior Canadians after stepping off the long bus ride from Wellington. The Dukes fell behind by a pair of goals early in the first period but quickly recovered, scoring a pair of their own. The teams then traded goals, knotting the game at three goals apiece.

“After the fourth goal the ice opened up and we began taking the game to them,” reported forward Craig Campbell.

But as the Junior Bruins fell behind, the team unravelled, taking a series of senseless penalties. As the game became out of hand the Boston coach was eventually ejected from the game. He refused to leave the bench and the game was called with six minutes left in the period. The Dukes skated off the ice with the 6-3 win.

On Friday Campbell scored a hat trick to lead his team to an 8-2 romp over the Capital District Selects.

On Saturday the Dukes let a close game slip away against a scrappy but beatable Bay State squad. The Dukes were leading the game 2-1 with eight minutes to go. But the Breakers scored two quick goals late and added an empty netter to seize the win.

“We should have won that game,” said Campbell. “That was a bad one to let get away.”

On Sunday the Dukes faced likely the best team in the tournament, the New Hampshire Monarchs. Once again Wellington led for most of the game—but late in the third, questionable penalties put the Dukes two men down. With 45 seconds left in the game the Monarchs scored their first goal on Charlie Graham, in net for the Dukes.

The teams settled nothing in overtime—New Hampshire scored in the shootout to snatch the comeback win from the Dukes.

“New Hampshire was the fastest team we faced in the tournament,” said Campbell. “It was a good game—back and forth the entire game. The only thing that would have made it better is if the referees had let us play.”

Former Wellington Duke Scott Simmonds takes a shot on Frontenac’s goalie Craig Wood during Saturday night’s pre-season exhibition game.

BULLS HOCKEY IN WELLINGTON

In lieu of Dukes hockey on the weekend, Wellington played host to the Belleville Bulls and Kingston Frontenacs as the two OHL East division teams squared off in exhibition action on Saturday night. The Bulls, with a largely injury depleted lineup, put in a tough physical effort managing to subdue the Frontenacs 6- 1. Special teams led the way with four power play goals and a short-handed goal.

The main feature of the second period was an ugly brawl in which the Bulls’ Brendan Gaunce got matters started by attempting to twist the head off the Frontenacs’ veteran defenceman Tyler Brown. Meanwhile Brown’s teammate, 16-year-old hopeful Ryan Hutchison, made the ill-advised choice to square off against the Bulls’ hulking defenceman Brady Austin. The mismatch ended badly for Hutcheson and did nothing for his team’s prospect in the game.

DUKES LINEAGE
Many of the Dukes fans in the crowd on Saturday were looking to see how former players were making out in the OHL.

Darcy Greenaway scored a pair against the Bulls the night before, but on Saturday the nifty forward was held pointless though he was a persistent threat in front of Malcolm Subban in net for the Bulls.

Jan Kaminsky has been called up to the Bulls as the team sorts through a rash of injuries. Kaminsky centred the fourth line but saw plenty of action.

Scott Simmonds played as though he understands his role is to provide a solid physical presence and high energy on each shift.

UP NEXT: COBOURG AND VAUGHAN
The Dukes regular season opens this weekend with a pair of games at home.

On Friday night the Dukes host the Cobourg Cougars. The Cougars have retooled in the off-season and expect to contend for the top spot in the East.

On Sunday the Dukes welcome the Vaughan Vipers. Vaughan played themselves into the quarterfinals of the playoffs last season. The Vipers won three and lost one in the Woodchuck Tournament on the weekend.

Both Cobourg and Vaughan earned wins in their season openers on Monday night against Whitby and Toronto Lakeshore respectively.