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Dukes exhibition action yields a few surprises

Exhibition season is a bit like speed dating. Everyone’s a bit nervous—a bit on edge—perhaps leaning in a bit too much. Trying to make an impression. Often it’s not the impression they had in mind. Whether conscious or not, there is the pervasive knowledge that even if it feels right, chances are it’s not going to work out.

Dawson Ellis earned a pair of assists in his first game as a Wellington Duke on a line with Graeme McCrory and Jacob Burton.

So it is with the Wellington Dukes as they embark on a brand new season. There are still about three dozen kids vying for fewer than two dozen roster spots. But aside from the challenges of evaluating talent and filling needs, is the fact that many of these prospects are heading to training camps in the OHL or other major junior A clubs this week.

Here the stakes get much higher. Major junior hockey represents the next level, bigger crowds and statistically better path to professional hockey. But after 48 hours on the ice with an OHL club, these young men lose their eligibility to play NCAA college hockey. It’s a brutal choice for sixteen- and seventeen-year-old men to have to navigate. Sometimes the choice is made for them.

But for others, they are thrust into an impossible fork in the road.

These young men are at a point in their life—too young—when they have to roll the dice. Do they chase their hockey dream to play at the highest level, or do they pursue a safer route that preserves their academic opportunities? The first path is high risk but high reward. Choosing the other means all options are still on the table.

They are asked, at too tender an age, to make an evaluation about whether they have what it takes, or will ever have it, to succeed and thrive in this game at the major junior level. Otherwise they risk forfeiting a potentially lucrative scholarship opportunity.

Many Dukes players have earned full scholarships at prestigious American schools because they resisted the temptation of the OHL. Curtis Leonard, a star defenceman in the 2011 RBC Cup run, has a business degree from Rennselaar Poytechnic Institute and continues to play professional hockey in Fort Wayne. Darcy Murphy earned a history degree from Colgate. He will play professionally in Ireland this fall. Scott Fleming earned an economics degree from Dartmouth. Last year he played pro in France. Each of these young men is still playing the game they love, and getting paid to do so. They also have an education that will serve them well when their playing days end.

By Thursday, many of the questions about who will get to know Wellington fans this season will be answered. That is when the Dukes are home to face the Cobourg Cougars—the 2017 RBC Cup champions.

Forward Jeffrey Burridge escapes from the wall with the puck leaving a couple of Voyageurs in his wake, in exhibition action against Kingston on Friday night. Burridge scored in the 8-1 Dukes’ win.

MISDIRECTION
Another truth about exhibition hockey is that the smaller speedy players tend to stand out, while the lankier skaters get noticed for other reasons. Their mistakes are more obvious, their ability to fix mistakes is hampered by the quickness of the game.

But it’s a trap to draw conclusions too early. How will the speedy forward respond to the relentless checking of a 200-pound, 20-year-old opponent game after game?

Will the passes be as crisp? Will the eagerness to dig out the puck from the corner endure? Moreover, the bigger player may adapt quickly and learn to anticipate the direction of the play—turning his bulk into an asset.

ON THE ICE
Fewer than 10 players who finished last season with the Dukes are currently expected to be in the lineup when the new season begins on September 9 in Burlington. All but one of the returning players in the Dukes lineup on Friday figured in the scoring as the Dukes romped 8-1 over the Kingston Voyageurs in exhibition action. Captain Colin Doyle led his team with a pair of goals and an assist. Mitch Martan earned a pair of assists, while Corey Milne and Keegan Ferguson both notched a goal and an assist. Jackson Arcan was the lone returning Duke failing to register a point.

Andrew Rinaldi sprinkled a bit of salt into the Voyageur’s wounds on Friday by assisting on a pair of goals. Rinaldi’s brother, Anthony, played one season in Kingston before heading to Union College, a division one NCAA school in Schenectady, New York last season.

Prospects Graeme McCrory, Eric Uba and Jeffrey Burridge each scored in their debut. Declan Carlile, Daniel Panetta, Dawson Ellis and Alec Tiley all earned assists.

Ottawa 67’s draft pick Creed Jones shut out the Voyageurs through a period and a half. Pierce Nelson allowed just one in his 27 minutes of work on Friday.

Nelson was strong again on Saturday as the Dukes travelled to Kingston to finish the home and away series. The sixteen-year-old netminder stopped all but one shot directed at him in Kingston over 30 minutes. His partner, Justin Vertessi, didn’t fare as well—allowing five goals in his first outing in a Dukes uniform. Vertesi didn’t get a lot of offensive support as the Dukes mustered just a pair of goals from Will Harrison and Zach Smith.

Scores and outcomes don’t mean a lot in exhibition action. Like speed dating it’s about keeping your poise and finding peace that the place you land is where you are supposed to be.

UP NEXT: COBOURG
The national champions, Cobourg Cougars, visit Wellington on Thursday evening. By then the Dukes roster will more closely resemble the final lineup, as their flirtation with Major Junior will have blossomed, flickered out or been put off for awhile.