Seats chosen

With Josh Finklestein resting before the playoffs, Austin Broadhurst (left) and Kyle Paat assumed a greater share of the workload in front of Matt Larose.

Playoff contenders finalized as regular season winds down

For Stouffville this was the season. Without a win in Wellington their playoff hopes were all but over. For the Dukes, who had already clinched a playoff berth, the stakes weren’t quite as high. Yet the team would very much like to slip past Whitby or Newmarket for the home ice advantage in the first round.

They also have their minds trained on 30 wins— a milestone that is now within their grasp.

For the first half of the game the Dukes were in full control, despite a rash of penalties. Joe McKeown scored first. Parker Wood, Mike Soucier and Spencer Turcotte each scored to propel the Dukes to a 4-0 lead. But Stouffville’s Stevens brothers Mike and Marc still had something to say. The brothers combined for three goals. Mike Morgan added another.

All of sudden the game had become interesting. Stouffville had climbed out of a 4-0 hole. They had tied the game and had all the momentum.

It felt as though the game might be slipping away to a team that needed the win more.

But then, midway through the third, Brody Morris howled a shot from the blueline that Craig Campbell managed to put a stick onto and divert into the Stouffville net. A couple of minutes later, while on the power play, Austin Broadhurst’s hard slap shot found its way through traffic into the Spirit net. The Dukes had restored a twogoal lead with just over five minutes to go in the period.

With nothing left to lose the Spirit pulled their netminder with just under four minutes left in the game. Smartly, Spencer Turcotte intercepted an ill-considered blind backpass by a Stouffville defender at the blueline. He skated free and deposited the puck into the empty net—his second goal in the game.

The last few minutes of the game were marred by a series of scuffles and wrestling matches. But Stouffville climbed onto their bus and headed out of the County knowing the playoff light had been all been extinguished.

Erick Delaurentis looks for the pass on Friday.

Stouffville’s elimination was made official as Cobourg defeated the Spirit 2-1 on Monday night.

So the playoff cast is set in the North East Conference. Pickering and Stouffville have been eliminated. Cobourg and Lindsay have joined Trenton, Aurora, Kingston, Newmarket, Whitby and Wellington in the first round.

HOW IT WORKS
The eight teams in the North East Conference are stacked in order of points. Trenton is on top. Cobourg is at the bottom. But then comes a quirk we have overlooked in past discussions of playoff scenarios.

The first-placed team in each division is stacked one and two in the conference playoff.

This is true, even if their points total doesn’t rank them that high in the overall conference.

This is the case currently. Trenton will be ranked first by virtue of the fact that the Golden Hawks’ point total of 75 is well above any other team in the North East. Aurora, currently leading the North Division, would be ranked second— even though the Tigers’ point total is lower than the East’s second leading points getter, the Kingston Voyageurs.

The remaining teams are ranked by points. The top team will face the bottom. It will be second versus seventh. Third versus sixth and fourth versus the fifth-placed team.

As it stands on Tuesday, if the playoffs were to begin today, Trenton would play Cobourg, Aurora would take on Lindsay, Wellington would face Kingston and Whitby would play Newmarket. With three, four and five games left in the schedules of the respective teams, several of these matchups may yet change.

UP NEXT: KINGSTON AND LINDSAY
In what may turn out to be a preview of the first round of the playoffs, the Kingston Voyageurs will be in Wellington on Friday. The Voyageurs have been very strong in recent weeks—losing just one game since December 10. Backed by Charlie Finn in net, the Vees have been very stingy in allowing goals. Finn has one of the lowest goals-against averages in the OJHL. Finn is ably assisted by a big and reliable defence corps led by Brett Du Puy, Josh Hicks and Aiden Wright.

Stouffville netminder Braydon Banitsiotis looks to trip up gritty Dukes forward Jake Marchment. Moments earlier Marchment drew the netminder toward him before sliding the puck back to linemate Spencer Turcotte lurking in the slot. Turcotte buried his shot putting the Dukes up 4- 0 and chasing netminder Daniel Manella to the showers.

Despite a streak of 13 wins in 14 games many of Kingston’s wins have been of the one- or two-goal variety. It will be critical that the Dukes skate with the Vees for 60 minutes.

The Dukes welcome Lindsay to Wellington on Sunday for the last time in the regular season. The Dukes have won just two of five previous matches with the Muskies this season. They will be looking to even the score on Sunday night.

BANQUET
The Dukes will honour their best and brightest at the Highline Hall in Wellington this Saturday night. All are invited. $10 per person. Potluck supper.

BREAKFAST WITH THE DUKES
Join the Dukes for breakfast on February 24 at the Wellington Legion from 9 – 11 a.m. The Dukes will be embarking on the 2013 playoff campaign that weekend and will surely appreciate a strong show of support.