Playoffs

Andrew Coupland (5) is one of just two Dukes to play in all 53 regular season games (Steven Deeg is the other). The sturdy blueliner is dependable, tough and very fast. He can catch opponents flat footed and fly past, creating scoring chances where none existed. He is the second-leading defenceman in scoring, behind only Kyle Paat, with 25 points in the regular season.

Dukes get set to tangle with Cobourg

So it begins. The Wellington Dukes face off this evening against the Cougars in Cobourg in the first game of a best-of- seven series to determine who will move on. Both teams were a bit wobbly down the final stretch of the regular season. The Dukes managed to win six of their last 10 games. The Cougars lost six of their final 10—eleven when you count the 7-3 thumping by the Dukes at the end of January.

In a curious twist, Cobourg rested its number one goaltender, Nathan Perry, and their leading pointgetter and playmaker, Connor Armour, on Saturday night—handing Georgetown a relatively easy 8-2 win. Had the Cougars won that game—they would have leapfrogged Whitby and faced Trenton in the first round. Whitby would have played Wellington.

Should the Dukes eliminate Cobourg in the first round—as many in this community expect—there will be some Cougar fans questioning the decision to sit their two top players in the last game of the regular season.

Cobourg isn’t a particularly talented team— their most productive players are well down the list of for most goals and points in the OJHL. They have the third fewest goals for of the sixteen teams still playing. There are no superstars on this team.

What they do have is a squad of players willing to work, willing to wait for their opportunities and always ready to pounce on an error. Every player on the team has bought into the system and structure that coach Curtis Hodgins has implemented in Cobourg.

They have beaten the best teams in the league—Kingston, Buffalo, Aurora and Toronto Lakeshore. They do this with pure hard work and determination. Plus some great special team skills—a potent powerplay and a stifling penalty killing unit.

Cobourg is one of the toughest clubs to play at home—undefeated in 12 games at home through October, November and December. Not nearly as strong on the road. But the Cougars have home ice advantage in the series.

Andrew McCann struggled to put points on the board when he first joined the Dukes. But since he’s been paired up with Alex Carnevale—he has refound his scoring touch. McCann had nine points in the last five games of the regular season.

The Dukes will be looking to seize the advantage early in the series with a win on the road tonight. They will need at least one victory in Cobourg. Every game there will be tough—best chance of a win is sooner rather than later.

Players prone to find themselves in the penalty box will likely be on a short leash. Alex Carnevale had been on track to lead the Dukes in time spent in the penalty box—earning 34 penalty minutes in his first eight games as a Dukes player. But since then has had just a single penalty and five points in his last eight games.

Carnevale and Andrew McCann have found much-needed chemistry playing on the same line in recent games— adding another potent threat to the Dukes offense.

NORTHEAST PREDICTIONS
The Kingston Voyageurs will face the Pickering Panthers. The East Division champions should have an easy time of it in this first round series, but Pickering is not a team to be overlooked. The Panthers have two very strong lines that can skate and put points on the board. They also enjoy the services of a skilled netminder in Steven Dombrowsky. Should he get hot—and the Voyageurs stumble—the Panthers could make an interesting season. Kingston wins series 4-2.

Whitby will have home ice advantage against the Trenton Golden Hawks. Whitby has the much better record and some extraordinary talent in its lineup, but they will be wary of Trenton. The Golden Hawks are a proud team and they won’t give an inch to the Fury in the playoffs. They have been ousted in the early rounds in each of the past two seasons—eliminated in four straight games last season by Cobourg. That won’t happen this year. Trenton wins series 4 -2.

The Newmarket Hurricanes will be outgunned by the much older and more talented Aurora Tigers. Though they are made better with the help of former Dukes Cam Nicoll and Nik Coric, the Hurricanes lost more games than they won in the regular season.

Aurora in four games.