Now what?

Dukes to tangle with Bay of Quinte rivals for the South/East Conference finals

The most important news in Dukesworld on the weekend didn’t involve the Wellington squad.

The Trenton Golden Hawks had jumped out to a three-game to none lead in their best-of-seven series against the top-ranked Toronto Junior Canadiens. But then Toronto mounted a steady and persuasive comeback— winning the next three games to tie the series.

It set up a game seven in Toronto on Sunday night. Suddenly the Junior Canadiens had all the momentum and the home-ice advantage. Yet it was the Golden Hawks who jumped out to the lead late in the first period. Toronto tied up the match in the second. The teams played tight for the remainder of regulation time.

Just under 100 seconds into the extra frame, Trenton forward Duncan Grube won the puck battle along the wall in the Junior Canadiens’ zone. A quick pass to Sam Williamson parked just outside the goaltender’s crease. Redirect. Goal.

Improbably the Trenton Golden Hawks had defeated the best OJHL team in the 2022/23 regular season. They had won the right to take on the Wellington Dukes for the South/East Conference Finals beginning tonight in Wellington.

DUKES SWEEP HALIBURTON COUNTY
The Dukes, meanwhile, completed their sweep of the Haliburton County Huskies last Thursday in a gritty game in Minden. Barrett Joynt continued an inspired playoff run with a goal in the first period. Luke Strickland added a power play goal later in the frame. But the Huskies got on the board with their own power play goal a few moments later.

And that is where the scoreboard stayed through an increasingly frisky second period. Midway through the final frame, the Huskies were penalized for tripping. Lucas LaPalm scored on the man advantage—extending the Dukes’ lead to a pair of goals.

Another Dukes’ power play—this time, an errant pass was intercepted by a Huskies penalty killer. Breakaway. Goal.

The Huskies pulled their netminder. Full on attack. But the Dukes hunkered down. Kept Haliburton to the outside. Tough grinding hockey. Wellington persevered, securing the sweep.

The Huskies took the defeat poorly. Some shoving. Some inciting. Eventually, the referees sent both teams to their respective dressing rooms—skipping the ceremonial handshake.

Jacob Osborne went the distance in all four games in the sweep of the Huskies.

UP NEXT: TRENTON
The Wellington Dukes will have home-ice advantage in the semi-final series due to a second- place finish in the regular season. Game one is in Wellington tonight (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m. The next game is in Trenton on Saturday night, and then back in Wellington on Monday night.

The teams played each other five times in the regular season— the Dukes winning three of those matches.

The Golden Hawks are a big and rugged club that demonstrated against the Junior Canadiens they possess the skill and determination to take on the very best team in the league

It seems likely the Golden Hawk fan base will be in Wellington in full force and enthusiasm tonight.