Darcy Murphy earned the Dukes player of the month honours for his play in October. He averaged three points per game over the last month, leading his team to eight wins in 10 games.

Dukes mount five-game winning streak

Likely few, beyond the players on the ice, understood the historic significance of the victory in Trenton on Friday as the Dukes took on the Golden Hawks. It turns out that even Marty Abrams was unaware as the buzzer sounded on the Dukes’ 5-4 win that it was his 500th victory behind the bench as the Wellington coach.

“Most of the time we play for ourselves, our team and our fans,” said team Captain Simon Bessette. “But we agreed that Friday’s game was for Marty.

“It is an incredible achievement. He is a great coach. He knows how to win and prepare a successful team. I was honoured to present the puck to him after the game.”

For Abrams, still a relatively young man, it is a milestone that snuck up on him.

“I had no idea,” said Abrams. “It is hard to believe that it’s been 500 wins already. It really is a testament to the success year after year of this hockey club.”

Abrams was persuaded to come to Wellington by Garry Lavender in 1999.

“I was just expecting to be here for a year,” said Abrams. “I was continuing to commute back and forth from Kingston. But it was so much fun—the team was great with guys like Danny Bois, Dean Byvelds and Rob Gherson.”

One year has since turned into 13. In the interval the team has amassed an incredible record of success including two remarkable trips to the RBC Cup.

“I think it says a lot about the success of the organization, not just about the coach,” said Abrams. “There is a spirit of achievement in Wellington from the on-ice staff to the game day volunteers, coaches and everybody who works each week to make this team successful.”

WELLINGTON 5 – TRENTON 4
Successful teams take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to them and make the most of the bounces that go their way. The Wellington Dukes are beginning to do this more consistently in recent weeks, particularly evident in a pair of wins on the weekend.

A large and enthusiastic crowd, likely half from the County, was treated to a highspeed, highly skilled game between two tough combatants on Friday in Trenton. By the beginning of the second period the teams had traded goals and were knotted at one.

Then, while on the power play, the Dukes were caught flat footed and the Golden Hawks potted a short-handed goal. Jan Kaminsky scored on the same power play to even the score. This was key. For the Golden Hawks were about to take a couple more penalties.

Jeff Stanton has had a strong October and is currently tied with Cam Yuill as the Dukes’ third best pointgetters.

That is when the OJHL’s leading point and goal scorer Darcy Murphy seized the spotlight, notching his 19th and 20th goals of the season. Less than a minute later Cole Bolton pinballed a shot past netminder Spencer Finney to give the Dukes a 5-2 lead. It was Bolton’s first goal as a Wellington Dukes player.The three-goal outburst silenced the Trenton faithful.

“The guys really took advantage of our opportunities, particularly on the power play,” said Bessette. In fact the Dukes scored four goals on eight opportunities with the man advantage. But with more than half of the game yet to be played, no one expected Trenton to concede the match.

“When it was 5-2 we knew they would come at us hard—and although they narrowed the lead we did a good job of closing the door and taking home the win.”

Michael Doan went the distance for the Dukes in net.

WELLINGTON 5 – LINDSAY 2
With a big win on the road against the division leader behind them, the fresh worry for Abrams was preparing his team for a dangerous Lindsay team on Sunday. The Dukes have made a habit of following up big wins with a less-than-complete effort. This partly explains why the Dukes are in fourth place—though working up the standings with improved play in October.

The Dukes opened up a 5-0 lead by the end of the second period on a pair each from Murphy (21 and 22) and Anthony Taylor, as well as a single from Elliott Richardson.

For 50 minutes the Dukes hounded the Muskies up and down the ice. But with ten minutes to go and a substantial lead—the Dukes eased up on the back check.

Two minutes later the Muskies had a pair of goals, erasing Tyler Marble’s shutout attempt.

“We saw how potent their offence can be,” said Abrams, “with a pair of quick goals. We had 15 minutes left in the game and we were playing like there was just 30 seconds to go. If they had popped another goal—I was worried we could be looking at overtime.”

Chastened, the Dukes buckled down and skated home with the 5-2 victory—win number 501 and counting.

Michael Doan was good enough to hold back the Trenton Golden Hawks on Friday night in his second win in the Dukes net.

LINEUP
The Dukes bolstered the blueline on the weekend adding Dana Tenenbaum to the lineup. Tenenbaum is from Toronto and toiled with the Brampton Capital two seasons ago. He was acquired by the Coquitlam Express before last season— but with the team mired in the standings of the BCHL, Tenenbaum was deemed expendable.

“This is an opportunity for him to get closer to home,” said Abrams. “He isn’t a huge goal scorer; we are counting on him to be a stay-at-home defender with some size and some grit.”

MINDING NET
Charlie Graham’s stay in Belleville looks to be considerably longer than expected. Graham was called up to the Bulls after Malcolm Subban was sidelined due to injury.

That forced the Dukes to go out and find more help in net— in the form of Michael Doan and Tyler Marble.

It turns out Subban isn’t expected back in the Bulls lineup for another 10 or 12 days. Meanwhile Graham made it into a game on Friday. By all accounts he acquitted himself well, making 20 saves on 22 shots.

“For now we will continue to hang on to the three goalies,” said Abrams.

UP NEXT: KINGSTON, ST. MIKE’S AND PETERBOROUGH
With a tidy five-game winning streak under their belts the Dukes head to Kingston to take on a team they have, so far, failed to beat in a pair of tries this season. The Vees have only eight wins so far this season but two of these have been against the Dukes.

On Friday the Dukes host the St. Michael’s Buzzers for the first of only two meetings this season. St. Mike’s lords over the South Division with a full 20 points separating them from second-place Toronto Lakeshore.

The Buzzers are getting outstanding netminding from Adrian Ignagni giving up a stingy 1.92 goals-against average.

On Sunday the Dukes welcome the Peterborough Stars back for a return visit. Two weeks ago the Dukes skated past the Stars for a 5-2 win. The Dukes will be wise not to overlook this beleaguered team. As Dukes fans remember, the Stars notched two quick goals in the final minute of their last match.

Where are they now?

The Wellington Dukes trace their hockey roots to the former Belleville Bobcats franchise, purchased in 1989 by 10-year operators of a successful Wellington Junior ‘C’ representative who moved the acquired squad to the tiny village. This is the sixth in a series of tracking down former Duke players.

Last Friday in Trenton Marty Abrams picked up his 500th win as Head Coach of the Dukes. His first win came back on September 17, 1999 with a 7 – 2 victory over the Peterborough Bees (now known as the Stars) and 16-year-old Robert Gherson was the netminder that night. In his one season with the Dukes he was named to the Ontario Under-17 Team and was selected league Rookie-of-the Year. The Dukes also set team records for wins and points.

He then moved on to the Ontario Hockey League for four years, mostly with the Sarnia Sting, and made the playoffs each season.

Drafted by the Washington Capitals he spent the next five years in pro hockey in both the American Hockey and the East Coast Hockey Leagues. The Toronto, Ontario native retired as an active player following the conclusion of the 2008-09 season.

DID YOU KNOW?
For the past four years a former Wellington Duke has been on the Calder Cup-winning team of the American Hockey League Playoff Champions. In 2008 Robert earned his ring with the Chicago Wolves.