Making hay

Dukes rack up two more in the win column

Dukes defenceman Wil Healey attempts to chip the puck away from Vaughan Vipers winger Marc Franchini during play on Friday night at the DukeDome.

Simon Bessette is a fun guy to watch. The moment he steps on the ice he is moving. Churning his feet forward. Hungry for speed. He is usually the first Dukes player on the ice. Alert fans will have witnessed a typical Simon vignette on Friday as the driven young forward opted, after the anthem, to take one last lap around the net rather than go straight to the bench. He uses every moment on the ice to improve himself and his game.

Bessette came to the Dukes in the off-season from Longueuil Collège-Français, where he was used primarily in a defensive role. But his talent and energy didn’t go unnoticed. He was selected to play with Team Canada East in the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Summerside, P.E.I. last year.

That is where he caught the eye of Dukes Coach and GM Marty Abrams.

Now in Wellington Bessette continues to shine among Abrams’s go-to penalty killing players. But he is also beginning to demonstrate that he is one of his team’s best set-up guys—currently on a point-a-game pace in his last seven games.

Bessette is frequently on the line centred by Brian Bunnett—another emerging phenom in the Dukes lineup. After a bit of a slow start to his season, Bunnett has been on fire since mid-October—averaging a point a game in his last 15, including nine goals. Bunnett is a quiet and unassuming player—not a lot flash or dazzle. He is, however, efficient and lethal— as opposing teams are learning.

The truly shocking bit about Bunnett is that he is still just 17 years old. Bunnett came to Wellington from Bowmanville after the Eagles called it quits as an organization in the off-season, after winning the East Division championship.

Dukes goaltender Jordan Ruby with his Silver Medal he recently won with Team Canada East at the World Junior 'A' Challenge.

SOOTHING THE FURY

One of the castaways from the Eagles organization was Coach Curtis Hodgins. Whitby picked up Hodgins in the summer. Most recently he was assistant coach of the silver-medal-winning Team Canada East at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Penticton earlier this month.

Before the game the league honoured the OJHL players and coaches on Team Canada East in a special ceremony, including the Dukes’ own Jordan Ruby.

Under Hodgins’s tutelage the Fury play a tight defensive game, rarely winning or losing by more than a twogoal margin. In a curious bit of trivia, Whitby has four shootout losses—the current recordholder in the dubious OJHL category.

True to form the Fury offered a tough neutral zone wall on Thursday as the Dukes visited Whitby. But firstperiod goals by Zach Allen, finishing a pretty tick-tacktoe play with Cam Yuill and Steve Evans, and Sean Rudy, creating his own turnover in the neutral zone, gave the Dukes a two-goal lead.

Whitby scored early in the second but then the Dukes tightened up and rode the rest of the way on Jordan Ruby, earning a win in his first game back in a Dukes uniform in November.

DE-FANGING THE VIPERS

The Vaughan Vipers believe in speed. As one astute observer noted at the DukeDome on Friday night, the Vipers don’t have a slow player on their roster. Every skater, it seems, has wheels and the desire to use them. Perhaps quickest of the bunch is 16-year-old Robert Polesello, also a Team Canada East competitor. He is small—just 5-foot 7-inches and 160 pounds—but his speed and agility get noticed on the ice and soon players are chasing him and freeing space for his linemates. Yet the Dukes were equal measure for the South Division team on Friday.

In his second shift as a Dukes player Jan Kaminsky circled behind the Vipers’ net looking to stuff a wraparound shot past the netminder. Though Kaminsky’s attempt was thwarted, Darcy Greenaway was in the right place to pick up the rebound and lift a high backhander over the netminder.

Brian Bunnett scored a pair in the second period to give the Dukes a three-goal lead. Vaughan scored on the power play midway through the third period. But, as if to show they weren’t to be trifled with, Joe Zarbo potted a wrist shot into the top corner just 29 seconds later, from Sean Rudy and Rusty Hafner.

The Dukes skated home with a 4-1 win, pushing them alone atop the East Division standings.

UP NEXT: STREETSVILLE AND PICKERING

The Dukes’ most prolific scoring outburst came in mid-October when they faced off against Steetsville at the Governor’s Showcase tournament in Aurora. The Dukes pounded the Derbys 9-4. Streetsville is floundering in the bottom half of the South Division, but they have managed to upset some good teams, including Lindsay and Cobourg. Even when they lose they typically manage to score a number of goals, averaging over three goals per game. It is at the other end of the rink they run into trouble. Streetsville has the fifth worst goals-against record, allowing more than five goals per game on average.

The Dukes welcome Streetsville to the DukeDome on Friday night.

On Sunday the Dukes are back in action against the Pickering Panthers. Game time is 6:30.

Pickering continues to dwell in the East Division cellar, but five of their six wins have come since the Dukes beat them 4-2 in early October. The Panthers continue to rely on Justin MacDonald and Tyler vonEngelbrechten for offensive production.

In net, Ryan Carlisle, a familiar name for Dukes fans, shares duties with Adam Stein. Both are working to lower their goals-against average, currently approaching four.