Pre-season proud

Dukes score 39 goals and allow just eight in eight pre-season games

It doesn’t mean a whole lot. Pre-season games are mostly about assessing talent and constructing a team for the campaign ahead. Still, it’s always better to win than lose, even when the outcome doesn’t matter.

It explains why Wellington Dukes fans are walking a bit prouder this week in giddy anticipation of another successful season. A season that gets underway on Sept. 16 in Kingston. The Dukes’ home opener follows the next night, Friday Sept. 17, as the Dukes host the St. Michael’s Buzzers.

JUST BETTER

The Wellington Dukes won their eighth straight exhibition game on Sunday, felling the Trenton Golden Hawks at the Yardmen Arena in Belleville. The game was the finale to the Belleville Bulls’ celebration of 30 years as a franchise.

Earlier in the day the Yardmen hosted a pre-season match between the Picton Pirates and the Napanee Raiders. Later the Bulls downed the Oshawa Generals 7- 5 in an afternoon game. Then it was the Dukes’ turn to shine.

Cam Yuill got things started while killing a penalty in the first period. Forcing Trenton to cough up the puck, Yuill streaked to the net, shifted and lifted a backhand past the handcuffed goalie. The Golden Hawks tied up the game—the closest Trenton has come to the Dukes in five pre-season games—after the Dukes players got caught watching Trenton hammer a Dukes player into the boards at centre ice. That lapse allowed three Golden Hawks to descend on the net and score against a lone defender and Jordan Ruby in net.

There would be no other such lapses. The Dukes scored three more times—Zack Jones, Darcy Greenaway and Matt Beer each snapping home rebounds past the Trenton netminder. Nor were the Golden Hawks able to mount sustained pressure in the Dukes zone after their initial goal.

Jordan Ruby was solid when called upon, but this happened less frequently as the game wore on.

DOMESTICATING THE CATS

It was a more difficult contest on Friday night under the DukeDome. It was the Dukes’ first look at the Cobourg Cougars—touted as perhaps one of the East’s contenders this season.

It was Ryan MacDonald’s turn in net for the Dukes. Just one veteran defenceman (Brandon Macintosh) was dressed for the game. It was an audition for five prospects on defence.

In the early going the Cougars indeed seemed the better team—fast and aggressive on the forecheck. Just over a minute into the game the Cougars’ James Diminie scored on a wraparound to take the lead. But before the period was out, defensive hopeful Will Healey scored on a shot from the high slot that changed directions on the way.

In the second frame, Zach Blake and Zack Jones scored similar goals, each finding a weakness between Cougar netminder Matt Cadieux’s feet. The Dukes were ahead 3-1.

Yet the Cougars continued to press, outshooting the Dukes 39 to 20 through two periods.

Late in the third period, the Cougars found the Dukes net, Colbie Andrews sweeping in a rebound.

For a moment it appeared the Dukes might have to quell a late game rally by Cobourg. Fittingly it was Mitch Rosborough who seized the open ice afforded by the pressing Cougars. The feisty forward had been a factor all game long, battling back the Cougars’ forecheck and creating breakout opportunities for his team in his own end.

So it made sense that in the final minutes it was Rosborough who swooped in on net from the wing and lifted a crisp backhand high into the Cougars net, sealing the win for his team.

Ryan MacDonald served up another strong performance in goal, stopping 45 shots.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE…

This weekend the Dukes travel to Vermont to participate in the Woodchuck Classic tournament. The Dukes play four games in total against the host Green Mountain Glades on Thursday, Bay State Breakers on Friday, New Hampshire Monarchs on Saturday and finish off against the Philadelphia Revolution on Sunday.

In its sixth year, the showcase tournament has grown both in stature and in scale. It is a must-attend event for the NCAA scouts and recruiters in the U.S. northeast. The event now plays host to more than 50 teams from Canada and the U.S. in the four-day tournament.

WELLINGTON’S LOSS…

Both Scott Simmonds and Cole Murduff have survived early cuts by their respective OHL teams the Belleville Bulls and Peterborough Petes. Their future is not yet set, in either case; however, the longer they manage to stay on the OHL roster, the less likely is their prospect of a return to Wellington.

This means big holes to fill in the Dukes lineup—particularly on defence as Murduff was one of only three returning rearguards. Simmonds’s grit and speed will also be missed up front.