Out
Dukes fight to the finish, but Pickering moves on It’s over. The season slipped away too soon. The Dukes were swept in four games by the Pickering Panthers, who will now proceed to the second round of the OJHL playoffs. It seems only a short while ago the Dukes were assembling for season 37. Now it is over. The season started with clouds hanging over the Wellington franchise. It finishes the season with the same dark shadow. The players will disperse quickly. The rink will be given over to minor hockey, pick-up hockey, and figure skating. Yet, questions about the […]
When the going gets tough
Dukes drop first two games in hard-fought playoff series The Dukes are in tough after a pair of games against Pickering. The Panthers are just a wee bit faster, a bit older and a bit more responsible in their own zone. Yet, the Dukes are right there. In the first two games of the best-of-seven series, Wellington had plenty of chances to alter the outcome of each. The Dukes were badly outshot in each game—but Dryden Riley was brilliant in Wellington’s net, turning away 43 shots in game one, and 47 more on Sunday. Every engine was turning on Sunday […]
Playoffs begin
Dukes get ready to take on the Pickering Panthers So it begins. For the 37th year—since the team was formed—the Dukes are headed to the post-season. It has been noted in this column several times already that the prospect of doing so in 2026 wasn’t strong last year. It is a gift to Wellington fans. A gift from the players and team managers. They endured much noise and much doubt. Yet, they persevered. And so, here we go again. Last week We shall skim through the past week of games. The Dukes’ playoff ticket had already been stamped a week […]
Playoff bound
A strong outing against the league’s best puts Dukes on a positive track Jacob Panetta vowed, when he took the reins last July, that the Dukes would continue the team’s unbroken streak of playoff appearances in the 2025/26 season. True to his word, Panetta is guiding the Wellington Dukes toward their 37th appearance in the OJHL playoffs. It is a historic streak dating back to the team’s debut in 1989. Just nine games remain in Wellington’s regular season schedule. The Dukes currently sit in sixth in the East Conference. Eight teams will make the playoffs. No team, currently ranked lower […]
Heckuva thing
Dukes ride a three-game streak as they get set to welcome Trenton next Friday It was some week for the Dukes of Wellington. After Dryden Riley turned away 52 shots in a scarcely attended and improbable victory on Wednesday, the Dukes struggled to get by the woeful Cobourg Cougars at home on Friday night. (Zach Carrier salvaged the two points with a penalty shot goal in the second overtime. We’ll explain in a bit.) Then on Saturday night, they defeated the Hurricanes—possibly their first round playoff opponent—in Newmarket. Three wins in three games. It was an important statement. At the […]
Two steps forward…
Snow and schedule make January hockey an adventure The Wellington Dukes are a team that appears to be rounding into playoff form—though the renovation remains a work in progress. The Dukes strong-armed both St. Michael’s and Markham with self-assuredness last week—a pair of East Conference teams that had posed a challenge to Wellington earlier in the season. But on Saturday night, they couldn’t keep pace with the East Conference’s second-place Stouffville Spirit—closer, but not yet there. Snow blew away Sunday’s game with Caledon. The new faces are proving their worth. Dryden Riley has been sturdy in the Dukes’ net, while […]
Low visibility
Dukes rack up three points in a pair of games The Dukes didn’t get to Collingwood last week due to the weather, and snow again threatened Monday’s game in Cobourg. Such is hockey in January. WELLINGTON 4 – PICKERING 4 The Wellington Dukes managed to venture out to Pickering on Friday night. The Dukes racked up a two-goal lead in the first, with goals from Captain Sacha Trudel and Blake Berthiaume. But then allowed four unanswered Pickering goals before the end of the second period. But midway through the third, something happened. Two Dukes goals in 11 seconds. Landon Marleau […]
Sluggish start
New netminder and new skaters look to give the sagging Dukes a push toward the playoffs It’s been a rough start to the new year for the Wellington Dukes. The team lost all three games it has played this month. All were road games. Its next three games are also on the road. The Dukes play at home next on Tuesday, January 20. Meanwhile, the team was active at the OJHL trade deadline, adding a netminder and a trio of forwards, including Cain Tucker, son of former Leaf Darcy Tucker. Even in three losses, there appeared silver linings. All three […]
Strong finish
Longest winning streak of the season brings 2025 to a close Dukes fans might have been hoping for two or three wins from their final four games of 2025; it is unlikely that many, outside the Wellington dressing room, imagined the team sweeping all four. Yet that is how the Wellington Dukes head into the holiday break. On the back of five straight victories, the Dukes moved up a few notches in the East Conference, into fifth spot, just two points behind Pickering and Newmarket. As the year draws to a close, Wellington is just six points back of Trenton, […]
Uneven
Dukes’ season full of twists and turns The Dukes can’t seem to get off the roller coaster. Up and down all season long, the Wellington squad has struggled to find consistency. Injuries played a part. But only a part. At the pace the game is played, it is tough to teach intensity for 60 minutes, but other teams manage to find it. The Dukes have four games remaining, all to be played this week, before the Christmas break. We’ll see if this team can get off the ride. HALIBURTON 5 – WELLINGTON 1 This was a close game, closer than […]