Glorious run

Dukes bow out to Oakville in a spectacular playoff season

Despite losing out to Oakville in the Buckland Cup final, it is impossible to do anything other than celebrate a truly magnificent Wellington Dukes season. Around the village and further afield in Dukesland, there is no remorse, no regrets— only wide smiles for yet another thrilling deep playoff run for this team.

Remember, the Dukes were fourth in their division at the end of the regular season in February—securing the final playoff spot. They were seventh in terms of points, in the SouthEast Conference. The team had bounced on both sides of .500 hockey throughout the season.

Fast and disciplined, the Oakville Blades offered the Dukes no room to manoeuvre or to make a play. Forwards like Dawson Ellis were flying through this series, but found themselves outnumbered in the close-in battles.

Then over the Christmas break, Olivier Lafreniere, the Dukes’ number one netminder, headed to school. He signed on with the Laurier Golden Hawks. The team scrambled to bring in Logan Bateman from the Nepean Raiders, who stepped in and proved to be a sturdy replacement.

There were frequent glimpses of the strength, skill and speed of this team, but just glimpses. There were gaps, too. Team discipline was always a work-in-progress.

It felt at times the Dukes were playing only well enough to get by. It seemed a dubious path to success.

COBOURG
Cobourg was a formidable first-round adversary. They were big and strong. They had won the East Championship. They had every reason to believe they would emerge victorious in this first round. But the Dukes were faster. More skilled. More opportunistic.

After the first couple of games it was clear the Dukes had come to compete. The series was tied at one game apiece. The series moved back to Cobourg. The Dukes dominated every aspect of this game, while the Cougars unravelled. Wellington tallied three power play goals and a shorthanded goal as the Dukes romped to a 6-1 win in Cobourg. The Cougars would not recover. Wellington won the next two games and the series.

WHITBY
Whitby posed a more challenging opponent. They were a well-balanced squad with no preconceptions of glory. They had beaten the higherranked Trenton Golden Hawks in six games. But they knew that besting Wellington would be tougher.

Whitby opened up 3-1 game advantage in the series by working hard, forechecking aggressively and limiting the Dukes’ chances. In game five—an elimination game—Whitby jumped out to a two-goal lead.

With his playoff future on the line, Daniel Panetta scooped up the puck in his own zone, skated the length of the ice, through the entire Fury team and scored, putting the Dukes on the board and changing the vector of the game.

And perhaps it is too facile to put a series turn on one player—but Panetta had been brilliant all season long. Forechecking tirelessly in every area of the ice. Ben Woodhouse and Elijah Gonsalves followed with goals in the second and third period to win the game The Dukes would not permit a response.

The Dukes forced a game seven. Whitby was game. They had the lead through much of the game. That is until the Dukes’ Tyson Gilmour tied the match at three goals apiece midway through the third period. Then the Dukes put their foot on the gas. They were winning every battle. The puck emerged from the wall. To Quinn Hanna. Patient. Ready. Shot. Game winner. Series winner.

SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE FINAL
In the South East Conference Final against North York, Wellington jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, but struggled to close out the feisty Rangers. North York stormed back with a pair of wins to force another game seven. Dawson Ellis opened and closed the scoring, and had a third called back in this game as the Dukes simply outhustled and outworked the Rangers in their own building.

By now Andrew Rinaldi was growing more confident in his ability to skate around the OJHL defencemen. Both he and Gilmour finished atop the points leaderboard in the playoffs with 29 points each.

BUCKLAND CUP
In Oakville the wider ice accentuated the fact the Blades are a very strong team. Highly disciplined, defensive- minded, rigorous structure and the ability to burn teams on the fast break. The Dukes lost four straight. But this result reveals little to show how tight this series was.

Even in game one in Oakville, a game the Dukes lost 6-1, Wellington skated with the Blades until the end. The Blades exploited every opportunity. The Dukes didn’t. It was that simple.

In every other game the Dukes lagged by just a goal or two.

Frustration seeped into the Wellington game. Rinaldi was suspended for the final game of the season. But still.

Even after the Blades jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game four, the Dukes kept coming. Pride. Heart. Character. All the adjectives that describe winners. They closed within a goal of tying the game. But not enough.

The Blades celebrated. They knew they had beaten a very good team.

Wellington fans were on their feet in the dying minutes. There was no sorrow. No second-guessing. This had been an incredible run. There was only deep appreciation for this Dukes organization from Ken Clement and Michael Mulvihill to Randy Uens, Todd Reid and John Druce, the coaches and the players. To Doug Robinson and all the volunteers who work so tirelessly to make the Dukes experience among the very best in junior hockey.