First place

Dukes rounding out the regular season in a winning way

Four Wellington wins combined with three Trenton losses has propelled the Dukes into first place in the East Division. Wellington has a three-point buffer over the Golden Hawks, but Trenton retains a pair of games in hand. These cross-bay rivals seem determined to crank up the drama down this final stretch of the regular season.

An important test of the surging Dukes will come this Friday as they welcome the vaunted Toronto Junior Canadiens to Wellington. Toronto is tied for the leaguebest winning percentage, and its high-powered offence is scoring an average of 4.46 goals per game, better than any OJHL team by a wide margin.

The weather is warming up—and so is the Dukes’ season.

DUKES 4 – CALEDON 2
Human nature is a funny thing. The Dukes visited Caledon last Monday. The Admirals had few fans on the cold stands. Their season is winding down. They will have won just a handful of games by the time they pack up and go home in a couple of weeks.

The Dukes are a different animal. Strong support from the community and another winning season propelling them into the postseason. The visit to Bramalea might have been a lopsided affair.

Yet it was the Admirals who struck first, taking the lead in the first. Dukes captain Emmet Pierce equalized the score before the intermission. But midway through the second, Caledon scored again. This game was sliding sideways on Wellington.

So the Dukes kicked into a higher gear. Graham Dickerson scored to retie the game. From David Campbell and Barrett Joynt. A moment later, the three combined again to give Wellington the lead for the first time in the game.

That’s where the score remained until Pierce buried an empty-net marker in the waning minutes of this strange game.

DUKES 2 – COBOURG 1
This was playoff hockey. Cobourg plays like they don’t understand how they have managed to end up in fourth place. And they don’t care. The Cougars have secured a place in the playoffs— and they believe they are good enough to beat anyone. They might be. The Cougars are a tough and intense team of forecheckers who will burn a team unwilling to compete with them for 60 minutes.

In the first minute of the game, the Dukes pressed deep into the Cobourg zone, creating a scoring chance that had the rink buzzing. But suddenly, the Cougars were heading toward the Wellington net with the puck. Two on one. Matt Dunsmoor committed to the puck carrier. And the lone defender failed to block the pass. In a heartbeat, Cobourg had silenced the buzz.

Wellington would not let that happen again—so the game went back and forth. Each team giving the other little space with which to work. As soon as the puck was on your stick, you had to move it. The Dukes managed the cycle well—keeping Cobourg largely in their own zone—but while the Cougars bent, they did not break.

Not until Jonathan Balah’s shot from the point bounced off the Cobourg netminder Justin Easter. Both Corbin Roach and Jaxen Boyer were working the dirty area in front of Easter. Roach whacked at the puck. No good. Boyer got his shot. The netminder got a piece—but not enough. The game was tied.

The Cougars pressed, but so did the Dukes. Fierce, unrelenting battles along the wall. Then midway through the final period, Mason Reeves and Ethan Quick worked the puck loose from behind the Cobourg net. New defenceman Jax Wismer had sneaked down from the point, serving as a decoy. Pass from Reeves out to Will Mitchell in the near slot. Shot. Goal.

The Cougars pulled their netminder with a couple of minutes remaining in the game. They believed they would score with the extra attacker. But the Dukes were better. Intercepting pucks and clearing the zone.

A thrilling game. Perhaps a taste of the postseason to come.

DUKES 7 – MISSISSAUGA 3
This was a see-saw battle until the third period. Pierce had scored a couple, and Joynt had buried a shorthanded goal—but the Dukes had spotted the Chargers three goals by the midpoint in the game.

So it was that a more determined Dukes’ team took the ice in the third frame—led by Jacob Vreugdenhil. The assistant captain already had a pair of assists in the game when he erupted for a pair of goals and set up a third in a span of about seven minutes—pushing his team to a commanding lead. Barrett Joynt rounded out the scoring a moment later.

Vreugdenhil emerged with five points in the game, Pierce earned another hat trick while Campbell had three helpers.

UP NEXT: TORONTO JR. CANADIENS, HALIBURTON COUNTY, LINDSAY
The Junior Canadiens have won nine of their last ten games—including two wins against Trenton. In three previous matches with Wellington, the Dukes took the first game, but surrendered a pair of losses in the following two. The game this Friday in Wellington will surely be a test of the Dukes’ playoff readiness.

On Saturday, the Dukes head to Minden to face the Haliburton County Huskies. Like the Cobourg Cougars, the Huskies believe they can do some damage in the playoffs. In six previous games against Haliburton County, Wellington has won five. Yet this hardworking squad will have something to prove to their hometown fans on Saturday.

On Tuesday, the Dukes host the Lindsay Muskies for the last time this season. The Muskies have been a pesky rival for the Dukes all season long. The Muskies have been victorious in three of seven games against Wellington this season. It will be a consequential game.