Discipline

Netminder Lucas Machalski gets strong backchecking support from his teammates Justin Bean (far left), centreman Joe McKeown and defenseman Jacob Panetta.

Dukes are once again the least-penalized team in the league

It seems a simple thing—spend more time with your players on the ice rather than in the penalty box—you win more games. The statistics bear it out. Yet it is a fact that many young players and—more worryingly—their coaches fail to grasp. Seventeen-year-old Jake Harrison was on the ice on Saturday night with the Mississauga Chargers in yet another losing affair—this time against the Wellington Dukes. Harrison lost track of what had happened around him, but sensing a transgression against one of his team mates, he began thrashing haymakers toward the Dukes’ Erick Delaurentis.

Delly, as his players know him, is used to being in the fray. He is a hardnosed, but highly disciplined forward who knows how to work in the lawless close quarters in front of the opposing net.

Delly wisely skated away from the desperate young Mississauga player eager to prove his worth and perhaps land a permanent role with the Chargers. For his trouble, Jake Harrison was charged 11 minutes in penalties for his team—and a six-game suspension for himself. He had only played five games with the Chargers. It was his second fighting major in two nights. He has, however, earned a top ten ranking on dropyourgloves.com.

Appropriately enough it was Delaurentis who scored on the ensuing power play. The outcome had been determined much earlier. The Dukes had opened a 4-0 lead by the second period. Three of the four goals were scored while on a power play. They would win 6-2. The Dukes had 11 power play opportunities.

Andrew McCann earned three assists in his first two games in a Dukes jersey.

Mississauga is a below-500 team, with only two wins earned in regulation time in 16 games. The Chargers lag the Dukes by every statistical measure except one. With 331 penalty minutes they have spent more than twice as much time in the penalty box as the Wellington Dukes with 153 penalty minutes so far this season.

In fact the Dukes are by far the least penalized team in the OJHL. Surprisingly, Mississauga isn’t the most penalized—at least not yet. That distinction belongs to Burlington (ranked number one on dropyourgloves.com). The Cougars are averaging 26 minutes of penalties per game. They have the second worst record in the OJHL.

How could it be otherwise? How can you spend half the game short-handed and hope to win? It is a simple thing. It is something the Wellington Dukes learned early and well.

The Dukes have long been among the league’s least penalized team. It isn’t by accident. From the day prospects arrive in Wellington, the importance of discipline is taught and reinforced by coach and general manager Marty Abrams. If they don’t learn it early or are unable to learn it, they move on.

It isn’t a pride thing. It isn’t about defending a testosterone-warped sense of honour. It is about success. The Dukes have proved year after year that winning is easier when all your skaters are on the ice.

DUKES 5- BUFFALO 3
The Buffalo Junior Sabres were equal to their billing as they visited Wellington for the first time ever. Buffalo owns the second best record in the OJHL, are known to be fast, skilled and backed up by great goaltending from Joe Pianta—the only Canadian on the Junior Sabres’ roster. The team is guided by Mike Peca, a 14-year veteran of the NHL.

The action was fast and furious from the drop of the puck. Fans were barely in their seats before Erick Delaurentis scored on the second rush of the game to give the Dukes the lead. There were great rushes by both teams, and Lucas Machalski was both good and fortunate to keep Buffalo off the score sheet until midway through the game. That was when a rather innocent looking shot sneaked past the Dukes netminder, tying the score at one goal apiece.

Spencer Turcotte whistles a pass into the crease against Buffalo on Friday.

But scarcely a moment later the Dukes forward Trevor Cope flew down the right wing, firing a shot that caught the Buffalo netminder flatfooted.

In the third, Buffalo scored again to once again tie the game—but 39 seconds later Joe McKeown and Abbott Girduckis combined to restore the Dukes’ lead. Another minute passed before Luc Brown tipped an Austin Broadhurst blast from the point past the Buffalo netminder. In the dying seconds Buffalo scored to narrow the lead to a goal—but Delaurentis carefully tucked away an empty net goal to secure the win.

UP NEXT: ST MICHAEL’S AND PICKERING
The Dukes travel to St. Clair and Bathurst in Toronto on Friday to visit St. Mikes. The Dukes won a close decision in overtime in a previous match earlier this month.

10 POINTS IN 5 GAMES
Erick Delaurentis is working toward player of the month honours if he manages to keep up his current pace. He now leads his team with 24 points including 11 goals in 15 games. Delaurentis scored a goal and an assist against Mississauga on Saturday. He has ten points in his last five games. He is currently fifth among all point getters in the OJHL.