Dukes clinch first place

Team begins preparations for playoffs

Trenton forward Matt Allen makes a better door than a window as the Dukes' Brandon Barletta's shot whistles past him and his netminder Spencer Finney on Sunday night.

It seems just a few short weeks ago the boys began arriving in shorts and golf shirts ready to try and make the Dukes lineup. Now the snow is piled up outside and Wellington has just clinched yet another first-place finish in the East Division of the OJHL. They have also secured first place in the overall South-East Conference. With four games left in the Dukes’ schedule, Kingston can no longer catch the Dukes. Peterborough has a mathematical chance to tie Wellington at 76 points, but that would require the Stars to win each of their last handful of games and the Dukes to lose their final four. Even in this improbable scenario the Dukes would still emerge on top because Peterborough can’t catch the Dukes in number of wins (not including shootout wins).

The Dukes are riding a seven-game winning streak and beginning to feel comfortable at home in the new Wellington and District Community Centre. But now they must begin preparation for their first-round contender, the identity of whom won’t be decided until mid-February.

NAIL-BITER IN WELLINGTON

Jan Kaminsky scored late in the first period to give his team the lead. The Dukes never looked back.

It might have been the most exciting game of the Dukes’ season so far. The Kingston Vees arrived in Wellington on Friday fresh from a shellacking by the Trenton Golden Hawks—a team that won’t make the playoffs this year.

The highly celebrated Voyageur lineup is loaded with talent but on some nights that talent doesn’t show up. After their opponents were pounded 6-3 the night before by the Golden Hawks, the Dukes could not have been sure what they would face on Friday at the Essroc.

For 10 minutes it was pretty much back and forth, neither team wanting to make a mistake. After all, Voyageurs owner Greg Rosen had funded a fan bus to bring the Kingston faithful to the new Essroc Arena in Wellington to cheer on the visiting squad.

The chant of “Go Vees Go” almost got started before it was drowned out by Dukes fans.

Midway through the first-the Dukes got three whacks at the puck in close on Charlie Finn in net for the Vees. Joe Zarbo made his whack at the puck count, lifting the Dukes to a 1-0 lead. Late in the second period, Darcy Murphy deflected a Zarbo shot up and over the Kingston netminder to give his team a two-goal advantage.

In the third Kingston’s Colt Kennedy scored to draw within one of the Dukes. Then, with Sean Rudy in the penalty box on a tripping charge, the Vees’ David McMullen scored from the point on a high shot beating Jordan Ruby’s usually reliable glove hand.

The Vees celebrated as if they’d won the RBC Cup. In overtime the Dukes scored, freezing the goalie and sliding the puck around him on the right. The goal, however was called back and the game went to a shootout.

Zach Blake was the first shooter for the Dukes and remembered how Charlie Finn had been fooled in overtime. He made the same move and scored. At the other end Ruby stoned the Vees’ Nick Zappia, Kyle Wilhlem and JoeyWilson. The Dukes emerged with the thrilling win.

BREAKING THE GOLDEN HAWKS

Brian Bunnett attempts to swat the puck out of mid-air in and into the Kingston net on Friday. He was unsuccessful in this attempt but his team won the game in a shootout.

On Sunday the Dukes were faced with the depleted lineup of the already eliminated Trenton Golden Hawks. Trenton won its past four despite being out of contention for postseason play. The team was relishing its spoiler role. This made it a dangerous opponent.

Things started badly for the Dukes as a chip along the boards, seventeen seconds into the game, caught an edge and veered back toward the Dukes’ net. Trenton’s Jeremie Gauthier swatted at the puck. It bounced off the back of Jordan Ruby’s legs and into the net.

But that goal sparked another level of intensity in the Dukes. For the remainder of the period the Dukes pounded 21 shots at netminder Spencer Finney. First Darcy Murphy scored on a three-on-one break. Then Jan Kaminsky scored, finishing off a fine passing play with Cam Yuill and Jeff Stanton.

In the second Trenton scored on a low screened shot with Rusty Hafner in the box for his first of four penalties in the game. But that was all the Golden Hawks had left. The Dukes turned up the intensity and scored three more times from Zarbo, Barletta and a second goal by Darcy Murphy.

It is a disappointment that Trenton will miss the playoffs this year. The cross-bay rivalry has been a good one in past years. Most Dukes fans are looking forward to a competitive team in Trenton next season.

UP NEXT: KINGSTON AND PICKERING

With first place now locked up the Dukes will likely be looking to rest some of the veterans and those nursing lingering wounds this weekend. This will likely provide an opportunity for some of the Dukes’ younger players to see more ice time.

Kingston, on the other hand, is still in a dogfight with Peterborough over second place in the East. The Vees must also fend off a challenge from Cobourg and Lindsay who maintain a statistical threat to overtake them for third place.

RUBY SELECTED BY R.I.T.

It took long enough. Jordan Ruby is arguably the best goalie in the OJHL. Durable and reliable winning goalies are a scarce commodity. So it was surprising that Ruby hadn’t yet been snapped up by a NCAA school or drafted by a pro team.

This aberration was fixed this week as Rochester Institute of Technology, a Division One school on the other side of Lake Ontario, offered Ruby a scholarship.

The 19-year-old native of Tavistock, Ontario is in his second season with the Dukes. He is currently ranked third in the OJHL with a GAA of 2.16 and save percentage of .931. Earlier this season he played in the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Penticton, B.C. for Team Canada East and earned a Silver Medal along with being named to the first all-star team. The OJHL named him Player of the Month for December, 2010 and the Central Scouting mid-term report has him ranked 26th amon goalies for the 2011 NHL draft.

Ruby becomes the third Dukes player off the current roster to secure an NCAA commitment joining forward Joe Zarbo (Clarkson University) and defenceman Curtis Leonard (R.P.I.).

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Team Captain Sean Rudy led his team in January, averaging nearly two points per game. The 20 year old from outside St. Andrews West, near Cornwall, is a prototypical power forward with the strength and speed to make things happen in the offensive zone.

Rudy will forever hold the distinction of having scored the last regulation goal in the old DukeDome arena on Dec. 17, 2010.

In his second season with the Dukes, he was acquired from the Cornwall Colts of the CHL and his 67 points this year (with four games remaining) surpasses his first season total of 54. Sean has played a huge role in helping the Dukes maintain first place in the East Division as well as being ranked in the top 10 in the country by the CJHL.

Rudy is considering several opportunities from NCAA schools.