Welcome break

Spencer Turcotte slices through the Lindsay crease on
Sunday. He has just a couple goals and an assist in seven games with the Dukes. But he is making his presence felt in other ways—finishing every check, every shift.

Dukes look to finish 2012 on a winning note

The Wellington Dukes are limping toward the Christmas break—looking forward to a break from the bashing the young club has been enduring, both in the corners and on the scoreboard in recent games.

It has become abundantly evident in December that when the Dukes aren’t skating at full speed they lose. The team has the desire, but lacks the size to play smashmouth hockey with the 19 and 20 year olds they face many nights. To win they must be one step faster.

But injuries—both the kind that sideline players (Craig Campbell for example) and the ones that merely slow them down (Jan Kaminsky and Kyle Paat head a long list) have made the Dukes vulnerable in December.

Many are looking for rest and rehab over the next couple of weeks. Wellington will need its team fit and fast in the New Year. For the first time in many years, a playoff spot for the Dukes is not a given. Wellington will battle hard with both Kingston and Whitby for the right to play in the post-season. And judging from the play of Cobourg last week, they don’t have plans to go quietly into the night.

Of course several Dukes players will return early to skate in the Central Canada Cup Challenge, to be hosted in Wellington over three days beginning on December 27. Huff Estates has signed on as title sponsor, in part to honour the memory of Lanny Huff’s son, Peter. Peter Huff was a former owner of the OJHL’s Trenton Sting Hockey Club.

Goaltender Matt Larose, defenceman Kyle Paat and forwards Mike Soucier, Craig Campbell, Erick DeLaurentis and Parker Wood have been selected to the OJHL East team. It will be determined later this week how many of these players will be ready to suit up for the tournament.

The Central Canada Cup Challenge will bring the best talent from three Quebec and Ontario leagues for three days of action at the Essroc Centre. Hockey fans—starved of NHL action— can come and enjoy 15 abbreviated games with some of the best prospects in the nation—for just $60. Individual tickets and day passes are also available.

TRENTON 8 – DUKES 3
A slow start finished the Dukes early in Trenton on Friday—the big and ugly Golden Hawks literally bowled over the flat-footed Dukes—piling up a four-goal lead inside the first period.

The Dukes found their skating legs and made a game of the remaining two periods—but a miracle comeback wasn’t in the cards.

Fewer Dukes are looking forward to the break more than Captain Jan Kaminsky. He has just two points since injuring his foot early in November.

The good news was the feisty play of some of the team’s young up-and-comers. Cam Nicoll returned from a prolonged absence from the lineup due to a hand injury. Nicoll’s rush set up the Dukes’ second goal—from 16-year-old Luc Brown. It was Brown’s second goal in two games. Joe McKeown and Jan Kaminsky each scored in the second, cutting the Golden Hawks’ lead in half to 6-3. But by then the gas had run out of the tank. Trenton scored two more in the third to seal the lopsided win.

LINDSAY 6 – DUKES 1
The Dukes welcomed the Lindsay Muskies to Wellington for the first time this season on Sunday. After a period of hockey the Muskies had the advantage in shots while the teams traded scoring opportunities—but neither team managed to score

In the second period, not much changed. Except for the fact that five goals went into the Dukes net. The key difference was that the Muskies decided to use their size to outmuscle the Dukes in front of Matt Larose.

When he can see the puck, Larose makes stopping them seem easy. But when a crowd forms in his grill he become vulnerable. Lindsay took full advantage.

Seconds into the third period the Muskies tallied their sixth—in precisely the same way.

The lone bright spot was a strong third period rush by young defenceman Jacob Hetherington. Gathering the puck in his own end, Hetherington powered up the ice deep into the Lindsay end and got a hard, but poor angle, shot away. The netminder got a piece of the puck but it landed behind the netminder in the goal crease. Brown tapped it to Spencer Turcotte who slammed it into the net.

Beyond that, an unremarkable game for Dukes fans.

UP NEXT: LINDSAY, NEWMARKET AND KINGSTON
In the last week of 2012 the Dukes are on the road for a pair of games.

On Tuesday they will seek to turn the tables on the Muskies as the Dukes travel to Lindsay. Then on Thursday the Dukes will motor up to Newmarket to take on the Hurricanes, who currently sit first in the North Division.

Then on Friday the Dukes come home to face the Kingston Voyageurs for the fifth and second last time this season. This will be about as important a game as they get at this point in the season. The Dukes will likely battle Kingston to the end for a playoff spot.

In four previous matches, each team has won two games—though the last one was decided in a shootout, giving the Vees the slight advantage.

The Dukes must gain ground against Kingston this week, otherwise the hill may prove too steep in January.