Leader emerges

Luc Brown was named runner-up to the OJHL’s player of the month in September On Sunday he set up three goals and scored the overtime winner to lead his team to a 5-4 win in Whitby.

The Dukes get lift from blockbuster season start by Luc Brown

When you meet him, you know instantly that Luc Brown is a singular individual. Smart, strong and patient. A firm, deliberate handshake tells you he is confident and focused. Ready for any challenge. On the ice, the Dukes forward has always looked the hockey prototype— tough, fast and skilled. The only question was: When would this combination of attributes become a dominant hockey player?

The answer is plain to Dukes fans now. Brown factored in every goal but one in Wellington’s 5-4 overtime win in Whitby on Sunday. His game-winning goal in the second overtime was his ninth in 10 games and his 17th point. In 10 games in this regular season, Brown has become the Dukes’ undisputed leader.

He was recognized by the OJHL this week as runner-up to the league’s player of the month. Suddenly more NCAA scouts are in the stands or lurking around the dressing room door. Brown’s stock is on the rise.

In his rookie season, Brown scored eight points. The next season he scored 33. Last season, 44 points. So far this season, Brown is on track to score 47 goals and 88 points.

He is a leader in every aspect of this team. Until this season, he was a role player—willing and entirely able to do grinder jobs, on the penalty kill, blocking shots, getting in the heads of the defenders, wearing down opponents along the boards.

But this year the Dukes needed him to step up, to put points on the board. Wellington had lost 177 points of scoring when Joe McKeown, Abbott Girduckis and Will Cook graduated to university hockey. The team was young. That was lot of points to be made up. Brown responded remarkably.

In 10 games, Brown has demonstrated he is an exceptional talent and a driven competitor who can deliver whatever his team needs. There is no doubt that Luc Brown has now become a dominant hockey player.

BUS STOP
Friday night’s match against Newmarket in Wellington was cancelled when the visitor’s bus broke down. The game will be re-scheduled at a later date.

So after a busy week in which they played six games in seven days, the cancellation on Friday provided the team with luxurious seven-day break. On Sunday, the Dukes travelled to Whitby to face the East division’s last-place Fury—who have won just three of their 11 games so far this season.

After a scoreless first period, the Dukes jumped out to a two-goal lead with goals from Ben Sokay and Nick DeVito. But Whitby responded with three unanswered goals—two power play goals and a short-handed goal. In the third, Brown set up goals by Sokay and Dylan Mascarin to regain the lead. In the dying minutes, the Fury pulled their netminder and scored with an extra forward.

In the first overtime, nothing was settled—except for the slash by Whitby forward Ryan Heeps. Heeps was in the penalty box when the teams returned for the second overtime. On the power play Brown scored, giving his team the road win.

UP NEXT: STOUFFVILLE HOME AND AWAY, AND COBOURG
The last place Spirit have just one win so far this season—but that win came on Monday night against an unlikely victim, the Cobourg Cougars. Suddenly Stouffville is playing with truckload of confidence—just as they get ready to face the Wellington Dukes in two-game home and away series this weekend.

Despite losing six of seven games, Stouffville’s netminder Aaron Taylor is managing a quasi-respectable goals against average of 3.21 and a save percentage of .913, ranking him in the top eight among OJHL goalies by that statistic.

Stouffville has been hobbled by a lack of discipline. They are the second most penalized team in the league. Despite a decent penalty killing ability, the sheer volume of time the Spirit spend short-handed has allowed teams to score 13 power play goals against them.

The Dukes have a different problem. They are poor penalty killers. More than third of the goals scored against them have come on the visitor’s power play. Fortunately, Wellington is among the least penalized team in the league.

Special teams are likely to play critical roles in these two games.

On Sunday, the Dukes return to Wellington for an evening game against Cobourg. Still stinging from their loss against the Spirit and remembering the 3-1 loss handed to them by the Dukes in mid-September will provide plenty of motivation for the visiting team.

The Dukes meanwhile will be looking a bit more distribution from its goal scorers and a better performance in its own end.