Disciplined

Dukes rounding out the year as a well-oiled machine

As 2021 winds down, the Wellington Dukes has evolved into a disciplined and ferociously hard-working team that has demonstrated success against any team in the OJHL. The Dukes are the least penalized team in the league—an important measure of self-composure and a teamfirst approach. It bodes well for the new year—should the virus permit hockey to resume in January.

The Dukes are winners in their past five games, eight victories in their last ten. This omits the power-outage partial game in Minden on Saturday. The Dukes were trailing by a pair of goals after one period when the lights went out. It is expected the entire game will be replayed in the new year.

DUKES 6 – CALEDON 2
A week ago, the Dukes travelled to Bramalea to take on the Caledon Admirals. The Admirals have struggled since moving from Brampton in 2020. And so it was that the Wellington set to work early in this game, scoring six unanswered goals over three periods. Five different scorers; Corbin Roach, Emmet Pierce, Harrison Ballard, Jonathan Balah, and Jaxen Boyer. Balah had three points on the night. Aaron Brown notched a pair of assists.

The Admirals got on the board late in the game—beating Ethan Morrow with a pair long after the outcome had been settled.

DUKES 4 – TRENTON 1
On Sunday, the Dukes visited Trenton in game four of what has been dubbed the Hasty P rivalry—honouring the achievement and sacrifice of the storied Hastings- Prince Edward Regiment.

Trenton came into this game on the back of a loss to Cobourg on Friday in front of a hometown crowd. The Golden Hawks appeared to have erased that memory when Sam D’Amico scored from the top of the slot through traffic, beating Carter Tahk in the Dukes’ net. But the worm turned shortly thereafter.

On the power play, Jonathan Balah and Emmet Pierce worked the puck low. Balah found Ethan Quick on the edge of the blue paint. Lightning reaction. Goal. The game was tied when the teams went to the dressing room.

The crowd expected a Golden Hawks rebound in the second, but it never came. Instead, the Dukes methodically clogged up the passing lanes—fizzling any Trenton scoring opportunity before it could amount to anything.

At the other end of the ice, the Dukes accumulated a pile of confounding near misses. The most spectacular of which was Brodie MacDougall swatting at the puck twice toward an empty net—only to be thwarted by the post, both times.

The second frame produced no goals.

It wasn’t until midway through the third that Pierce tipped a David Campbell shot from the face-off circle. The Dukes had the lead. Twentytwo seconds later, Pierce and Campbell combined again to extend the lead as Pierce fired a well-placed wrister from the right face-off circle. Then just over two minutes later, Jonathan Balah teed up Jacob Vreugdenhill on the power play. Vreugdenhil was poised on the right wall. When the puck arrived in his wheelhouse, Vreugdenhil delivered an Ovechkin-like cannon of a onetimer that no OJHL netminder was going to deny.

From that point, it was simply workman-like checking, and gritty positional play executed efficiently by the Dukes. Trenton would get chances—and Tahk was called upon on occasion— but the Dukes ground the Golden Hawks into submission.

UP NEXT: TO PATS AND CALEDON

The Dukes’ prolonged hiatus from the warm and welcoming confines of the Wellington rink extends another weekend. On Saturday, the Dukes travel back to Etobicoke to face the Toronto Patriots for the fourth and final time in this regular season. The Dukes have been successful in each of the three previous outings. Indeed, earlier this month, Wellington punctuated this trend with an 8-0 win in Toronto.

On Monday—in their last game at home in 2021—the Dukes will welcome Caledon for a 7:30 start.