Four lines

Quietly, Olivier Lafreniere has moved into the number four position among all OJHL netminders in both goals against average and save percentage. He has won each of his last six starts.

Every player is contributing to the Dukes winning streak

Make it eight games. The Wellington Dukes have returned to their winning tradition in November—winning eight games in a row. They are doing it with speed, tenacity, and determination. It starts in net and flows through four lines. And that is the difference. For while the Dukes top line is gathering the majority of points, all four lines have figured out that their role is to do their job to the best of their ability each and every minute they are on the ice. That work ethic and commitment are paying dividends.

Where once teams preyed upon the lack of discipline and relative youth of the Dukes’ second, third and fourth lines, now they face a stiff wall—eager to go toe-to-toe with the toughest in the league. These rugged forecheckers are willing to take the crushing hit and resist the urge to retaliate. Instead, they bounce back onto their feet and get back into the face of the opponent they are checking. Taking away time and space.

But mostly it is discipline. Shaw Boomhower plays hard and gritty in the dirty part of the ice—that few feet in front of opponent’s netminder where pucks are deflected, and rebounds picked up. But it is also where forwards like Boomhower take a lot of sticks to the legs and smelly gloves to the face. He doesn’t care for that. He reacts badly. Or he used to. He was often tagged with a retaliatory penalty, forcing his team to play short-handed.

Shaw Boomhower scored once and added an assist, helping his team to a pair of victories over the weekend. Critically, the gritty forechecking forward has stayed out of the penalty box in his past seven games.

Boomhower is doing less of that lately. On Sunday, he is knocked to the ice after the whistle in the second period. His team is up three goals. The Newmarket goalie and a defender get a couple shots in while he is down. Boomhower snaps to the feet, looking ready to throw a few shots of his own. But instead, he skates away from the scrum, to an appreciative bench. This is just one of the many reasons why the Dukes are suddenly among the best teams in the OJHL.

BREATHTAKING
On Friday, the Dukes hosted the Cobourg Cougars for the second game between these teams in three days. In the earlier match, the Dukes’ Olivier Lafreniere had another standout performance, leading his team to a 2-1 win on the road.

In Wellington, Lafreniere had another lesson for the Cougars. The Dukes netminder turned away 40 shots—20 in the second period—earning his first shutout of the season and the Dukes seventh victory in a row.

Luc Brown and Jacob Panetta scored power play goals—Panetta’s perhaps the prettiest of the night. Sneaking in from the blueline, he hammered a slapshot from the top of the right face-off circle. The Cougar netminder didn’t have a prayer.

On a penalty kill late in the first, Boomhower broke up a pass in his end and hit linemate Colin Doyle streaking toward the net with a tape-totape pass. Doyle swung across the crease tucking the puck through the Cobourg netminder’s, fivehole.

That was all the scoring.

But the scoreboard says very little about this game. This was high-speed, tenacious playoff hockey in November. Both teams were fast, aggressive and committed. The Dukes just more so. Besides, they had Olie the Goalie on their side. This was hold-your-breath, edge-of-your-seat hockey. The kind that has been missing for a while in Wellington.

It was a well-earned ovation that bathed the Dukes when they skated off the ice with a 3-0 victory.

NUMBER 8
The pace was dialled back a bit on Sunday as the Dukes welcomed the Newmarket Hurricanes. There was enough, however, left in reserve as Wellington easily outskated, outworked and outplayed the visiting squad.

Late in the first, Brown rifled the puck low from the top of the right face-off circle. The Hurricanes netminder made the toe save—but Chase St. Aubin was right there to snap home the rebound.

In the second period, Boomhower scored early followed quickly by a goal by Dylan Mascarin.

Newmarket scored, the first Lafreniere had allowed in four periods. But before the second was completed, St. Aubin dug out the puck from a flurry of elbows, sliding it back to Brown who gathered the puck, figured out where he wanted it to go and fired.

UP NEXT: PICKERING
Your last chance to see the Dukes in 2015 comes this Friday as Wellington hosts the Pickering Panthers. The Dukes’ three games after Friday are all on the road.

The Dukes lost to Pickering 4-1 when the teams last met on November 1. But these two teams have gone different directions since then. Pickering hasn’t won a game since then. The Dukes have won eight of ten.

World Juniors exhibition

There are still plenty of tickets for the World Junior A Championship exhibition games in Wellington on December 11. At 3 p.m. the Czech Republic take on an OJHL All-Star Team, and at 7 p.m. Team Canada East will face off against the defending gold medal champions, Team USA.

Tickets are available at the Dukes’ ticket office on game nights, at Lavender Furniture Store in Wellington or by contacting Betty Masterson at 613.399.1573.