A Wellington Duke

Yuill streaks down the wing as he lines up his next check.

Cam Yuill looks past the team that was his dream

When the Wellington Dukes reassemble this weekend to begin another campaign, a fan favourite from the past four years won’t be there. Instead, Cam Yuill is getting ready for school. The rugged and hard-nosed forward is getting ready to suit up for the UOIT Ridgebacks this season. The Durham-based university hockey program has benefitted from several other Dukes players including Brent Varty, Jordan Freeland and Tony Rizzi. Joining Yuill with the Ridgebacks this season are former Dukes blueliners Brendon Barletta and Jake Logan.

Yuill says he grew up in one of the best places in Canada for hockey.

“Every time I walked down the tunnel to skate onto the ice in Wellington, I got goosebumps,” said Yuill. “It is a pretty amazing feeling to skate out onto the ice and hear the noise and see that many fans cheering you on.”

WATCHING THE DUKES
Cam grew up in Wellington watching the Dukes. He was still a kid when the Dukes went to the RBC Cup in 2004. He remembers the excitement in the village, particularly when the Dukes defeated Aurora to move on.

“As a kid you dream of doing that one day,” said Yuill. “For me, as one who got to go on and experience it—it will always be pretty special. Something I will never forget.”

Yuill played minor hockey in the County under the guidance and coaching of his dad Darren. Cam’s team made it to the All-Ontario Finals three times—taking home the big trophy once.

Yuill moved on to AAA with the Quinte Red Devils in midget. He joined future Dukes David Pratt, Mitch Rosborough and Jake Logan. After a couple of unremarkable seasons he was picked to join the Dukes.

He joined a veteran team in 2008—skating with players including Captain Chris Brown, Marty O’Grady, Marc Senecal, Jon Bockman and Jeremy Franklin.

Above: Cam Yuill takes the face off in his last game as a Duke on Feb. 20, 2012

EARNING THE DUKES JERSEY
“I knew it would be a battle every night to get into the lineup,” said Yuill. “I definitely had a fourth line role—but I learned from veteran guys about the league and what it takes to win games night after night.”

He scored his first goal that September, helping his team skate to a 5-3 win over Hamilton. Soon Yuill emerged as the team’s physical presence. When other teams felt they could freewheel or take liberties with their sticks, Yuill was there, to draw a line in the sand:“this far and no farther.”

He was, however, much more than an enforcer with the Dukes—he had a knack for scoring critical goals at key moments.

Dukes statistician David Brown vividly remembers Yuill’s performance in a playoff series against the Markham Waxers in March 2010. The Dukes were down three games to none in the series and on the verge of elimination.

“The Dukes were trailing by a goal in the third period,” recalled Brown. “Of course a Dukes loss here, and there would be no game six or seven. Cam set up the equalizing goal and then, just when we all thought the game was heading to overtime, Cam scored the game winner with just 38 seconds to go.”

The Dukes came back to win the series— earning a berth in the East Championship series.

“Sometimes for a team to succeed they have to get points from unexpected sources and this was proven in this particular game,” said Brown.

Cam guides a young player through a drill during the Dukes Hockey School in 2009 at the old Dukedome. Yuill’s Dukes career spanned both the old and new arenas in Wellington.

ROAD TO THE RBC CUP
The following season Yuill played a pivotal part of the team that won the Buckland Cup, the Dudley Hewitt Cup and played in national championship.

“We realized early on we had a special group,” recalls Yuill. “We had the players, the character and the talent to do something. I have never been on a team that meshed so well. The atmosphere in the room was like I had never seen before.

“Everyone in the room believed we were going to the RBC Cup and we wouldn’t be satisfied until we got there. Even when we lost a game there was no panic—just refocus on what we had to do the next game.”

Looking around the room Yuill knew he was surrounded by winners.

“With Jordan Ruby in net we knew that if we scored a couple of goals we had a good chance of winning. On defence we had guys like Curtis Leonard, Rusty Hafner and Elliott Richardson—all guys who were big, strong, mobile and could move the puck. Then you had guys like Sean Rudy—a great leader—and Joe Zarbo a guy you could count on to score key goals. Great ingredients and great chemistry made that time.”

Yuill leaves Wellington this fall with mixed emotions. It is hard to leave home and playing every Friday night in front of family and friends. Yet he knows it is time to move on—to push himself to see what the world holds for him.

MOVING ON
He feels very lucky to have lived in Wellington and played for the Dukes his entire junior career.

“The program here is top notch—if you want to be a hockey player there aren’t many places in Canada that will prepare you better than here in Wellington.”

Dukes General Manager and coach Marty Abrams wishes the gritty forward continued success.

“After a successful four-year Junior ‘A’ career with the Dukes, I look forward to watching Cam’s progress both academically and athletically,” said Abrams. “I expect he will continue to push himself so that he can reach his full potential as a student athlete at the CIS level.”

Cam saves his most heartfelt thanks for his parents, Debbie and Darren.

“My brother [Alex] and I are lucky that our dad has a lot of knowledge of the game, he’s been around the game a long time. I’ve been fortunate to share these experiences with him.

“My mom is a kind of a nutcase when it comes to hockey—she takes it to a whole new level. I know they gave up a lot to drive us to hockey often at opposite ends of the province. Now I look back and I realize what they did for us.”

Yuill wants to say thank you to the Dukes fans—whom he says made both the old Duke- Dome and now the new Essroc Arena a dream come true.

“As a kid my dream was to play for the Dukes in Wellington. Now having the opportunity to experience it these past four years—it will always be pretty special.”