Charlie Graham stones this breakaway by Kingston’s Brodie Tutton. Photo by Topher Seguin

Close but no cigar

They say good teams win close games; therefore, by this measure, the current edition of the Wellington Dukes is not good…not yet. The Dukes have now lost seven games this year with six of them being decided by just a goal. Earlier in the week the Voyageurs picked up a new goalie, Justin Gilbert from Kanata of the CHL. The acquisition meant Kingston now has nine 20 year olds on their roster, the maximum allowed. The Dukes welcomed back Wil Healey to the lineup as he played his first regular season game after suffering an upper body injury in an exhibition game.

Just three minutes into the game, Voyageurs forward Brodie Tutton skated in on a breakaway from centre ice only to have 16-year-old Dukes goaltender Charlie Graham make an outstanding save. Penalty calls hurt the Dukes again tonight as Kingston opened the scoring just 12 seconds after the Dukes were called for charging on a goal by Steve McParland. His shot from the right face-off circle went in over Graham’s right shoulder to give the visitors a 1 – 0 lead. Late in the period the Voyageurs nearly doubled the score when a shot that beat Graham clanged off the post.

Dumb penalties hurt the Dukes again in the second frame as they saw themselves down two men on another power play for the visitors as McParland scored his second of the game on a play that could have earned four assists—if that was allowed—as each Voyageur on the ice touched the puck at least once before the goal was scored. Late in the period the Dukes finally closed the gap as Jeff Stanton dropped the puck back to the point and Kyle Paat shot a laser that Darcy Murphy, stationed in front of the net, managed to get his stick on and tip it in for his league leading 15th goal of the season.

The final period saw the Voyageurs put it into shutdown mode as they used a left wing lock to bottle up the centre zone area as much as possible. The shots on goal in the third, 9-1 for the home side, pretty well dictated how the period went as Vees goalie Gilbert gave up some huge rebounds, but the visitors’ defencemen were able to clear the zone each time. With a minute left to play, the Dukes pulled Graham for an extra attacker but to no avail. As they say, close but no cigar. Kingston scored both of their goals on seven power play chances while the Dukes weren’t able to capitalize on two opportunities.

The Dukes’ Simon Bessette squeezes through the Kingston defence on Friday as Greg Trichilo (left) and Brett Dupuy of the Kingston Voyageurs put on the pressure in second period action at the Essroc Arena in Wellington on Friday. The Dukes failed to win at home for only the second time this season. Photo by Rachel Psutka

Misdirected fury

Dukes exploit Pickering’s weakness

It is an emerging pattern with the Wellington Dukes this season—lose a squeaker on Friday against a competitive team and go on a tear against a weaker opponent the next night.

Mississauga has felt the wrath of a frustrated Dukes team on a pair of weekends. Lately it was Pickering’s turn to be the punching bag for the inconsistent Dukes.

After scoring just once in a losing effort against Kingston, the Dukes unloaded with seven goals on Saturday morning as they soundly defeated the Panthers at the Governors Showcase tournament in Cobourg on Saturday.

After two periods the Dukes had a 6-1 lead on a pair of goals from Cam Yuill and singles from Jeff Stanton, Simon Bessette, Josh Gervais and Darcy Murphy. Jan Kaminsky added another in the third. Elliott Richardson earned three assists. Charlie Graham went the distance for the win.

NEW NETMINDER IN TOWN
The Dukes are looking at a new goaltender this week. Tyler Marble has come to Wellington from the Humboldt Broncos where he lost out a three-way battle for number one spot on this powerful Saskatchewan team. The 19 year old is from Howell, Michigan, between Detroit and Lansing. Last year he played with Traverse City of the NAHL earning a 2.88 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage in 40 games with the North Stars.

The Dukes’ number one hopeful, Marc Nother, was traded last week to Thunder Bay of the Superior International Junior Hockey League.

Where are they now?

The Wellington Dukes trace their hockey roots to the former Belleville Bobcats franchise, purchased in 1989 by 10-year operators of a successful Wellington Junior ‘C’ representative who moved the acquired squad to the tiny Village. This is the fourth in a series of tracking down former Duke players.

NAME: BRAD BONELLO
In the spring of 2000 Brad was drafted in the ninth round by the OHL Erie Otters after playing the previous season with the Vaughan Kings AAA Bantams. He was assigned to the Wellington Dukes for seasoning and when I first saw him walk into the old DukeDome I thought the team had hired a new stick boy. The Brampton, Ontario native was 5’ 8” and about 150 lbs. Keeping in mind he was only 16 years old he managed to average nearly a point a game with 40 in 44 and you never saw him shying away from the rough stuff as his 99 PIMs would indicate.

He went on to play four years in the OHL before signing a pro contract with Toledo of the ECHL in 2005. Since then, Brad has played in Grand Rapids, Greenville, Port Huron, Bloomington Prairie, Long Beach, Dayton, Texas, Mississippi and Amarillo. He has also taken his work to Edinburgh, Scotland and is currently playing for Alleghe in Italy.

DID YOU KNOW?
Brad played in two Memorial Cups (2002 with Erie and 2005 with the Ottawa 67s).