On the ice

Returning forward Joe McKeown.

Dukes open training camp on Saturday

The ice making plant has been churning for more than week now. And come this weekend, the Wellington Dukes return—just a few short months since the village hosted the Dudley Hewitt Cup and watched its team narrowly ousted from an RBC Cup berth in the final game.

Despite the loss of stalwarts including Steven Deeg and Kyle Paat, the 2014-15 team taking the ice this weekend features a strong core of returning players such as Erick DeLaurentis, Joe McKeown, Luc Brown and Abbott Girduckis.

All six graduating players, including Deeg and Paat, have moved on to play at a higher level. Others have moved to a variety of junior clubs.

Tyler Welsh will take the number one spot in net, having spent much of last season in relief for Tyson Teichmann.

In front of Welsh will be returning defencemen Andrew Coupland, Jacob Panetta and Jacob Hetherington

“We are happy that we are returning more defencemen than we did a year ago. Plus, having a returning goalie is a huge bonus for us,” said Marty Abrams, Dukes GM and coach. “Coupland will be one of the best in the league and Panetta and Hetherington we expect to have huge seasons. We felt we had to move some of our other returning defencemen to other programs to achieve the mix both on and off the ice that we are looking for. We have added a few guys from elite junior programs that will really fill in nicely.”

This includes 20-year-old Connor Judson, who played with Nepean last year, and Braydon Blight, who was a strong addition to the Dukes’ back end in the team’s Dudley Hewitt run.

Up front, the Dukes will welcome Marco Azzano, Nick DeVito, Dylan Mascarin and Luc Knight. “ We felt that the past two years we had too many of the same type of forwards, which made us predictable as a group,” said Abrams. “We have had to make tough decisions by not bringing some veterans back and thereby opening up space for forwards that bring different elements to the table. We have some good prospects coming in and they need ice and opportunity to improve. We also want to make sure our players are here for the right reasons. That always means some tough decisions.”

Abrams, like most Dukes fans, is now ready to look forward.

“The fact the Dukes have nine or 10 returning players after a Dudley Hewitt Cup year and players off to school is a pleasant surprise. This is a solid base to build on.”

Scrimmages begin on Saturday morning. It is open to the public and free of charge.

Welcome back to the rink.