Midway

Dukes in good shape, all things considered

Fans have mostly adjusted to the tumult of the past summer. Healthy crowds continue to file into the rink most Friday nights. Midway through this regular season, enthusiasm for the Wellington Dukes appears as strong as ever. It helps that the team has strongly emphasized community this season with support for the Storehouse Foodbank, recognition of billet families, game-day volunteers and a heartwarming salute to the Dukes’ parents.

It helps, too, that the Dukes continue to put exciting entertainment and a competitive team on the ice each night. So it is that the Dukes find themselves in second place in the East Conference—a ranking that must be qualified because they have played four more games than Markham and Cobourg. Nevertheless, second place is second place.

DUKES 5 – AURORA 0
As Meat Loaf once crooned, two outta three ain’t bad. So, too, for the Dukes

Wellington simply outworked the Aurora squad on Friday night at home. The Tigers had come to Wellington eager to mount an upset. The Dukes would have to fight for this win. And they did. Lacking a lethal shooter, the Tigers worked to get pucks deep in the Dukes’ zone and battled aggressively along the boards. For much of the first period, the strategy worked.

But late in the first frame, Dukes’ d-man Logan Goodwin found Pana Ephraimidis with a long pass from his own zone. Ephraimidis was forced to go down on one knee to avoid going offside while corralling the puck. Bit of a rope-a-dope. Back on his feet, Ephraimidis dropped a backpass to Will Mitchell trailing on the play. Shot from the slot. Goal.

Seconds later, Colin Smith’s shot dribbled through the netminder’s five-hole. Connor Hunt was there to swipe it into the net. Suddenly, the Dukes had a two-goal lead. It drained the Tigers’ enthusiasm.

The Dukes came out in the second period with three more unanswered goals, one from Mitchell and a pair from Cory Jewitt. A defensive misstep created an opening for the Tigers late in the second, but Jack Lisson made a brilliant save. The Dukes turned the play around and Jewitt notched his second of the game.

Jack Lisson turned away 35 shots for his second shutout of the season.

DUKES 3 – STOUFFVILLE 1
It was a decent crowd in Stouffville to welcome the visiting Dukes on Saturday. Ben Vreugdenhil and Will Whelton scored in the first period—the second night in a row the team had opened up a 2-0 lead in the first.

The Dukes picked up the pace in the second, but the Spirit became more defensive. It wasn’t until well into the third period and a power play that Stouffville managed to beat Shane Shelest in the Dukes’ net. The Spirit were awarded a penalty shot late in the third, but Shelest turned that away with ease.

Sacha Trudel then buried an empty-net goal to seal the road win for the Dukes.

DUKES 1 – OAKVILLE 3
Call it too many games in a row—or just an off night—but the Dukes managed just 17 shots in a subdued affair in Wellington on Sunday afternoon. After a scoreless first period, Oakville scored twice in the second, while DA Tzaferis tallied with a power play goal to narrow the margin.

But an empty-net goal by the Blades sealed the end of the Dukes’ winning streak at four games.

UP NEXT: ST. MICHAELS AND NIAGARA FALLS
The St. Mikes Buzzers visit Wellington on Friday night. The Buzzers are a middle-of-theconference team after 25 games. St. Mikes has won just a single game in their last five—allowing an average of four goals per game over the span. The Dukes will have to watch out for St. Mikes’ David Elmy, who has scored 21 goals in 25 games.

On Sunday, the Dukes travel to Niagara Falls to take on the Canucks for the first time since the team joined the league this year. The Canucks’ owner and coach is Frank Pietrangelo, a storied hockey figure, having won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991. His cousin, Alex Pietrangelo is a current star of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Canucks elevated from the Greater Ontario Junior B loop, in the off-season, to the OJHL in the expansion that also saw the Leamington Flyers also join the league.

Unsurprisingly, the Canucks have struggled in its first season with just eight wins in 23 starts. The Canucks have lost four of its last five games.

The good news is that Niagara Falls is attracting good-sized crowds. Something to build upon.