Quarterly review

Dukes where they want to be

Dukes forward Sean Rudy bangs the puck past the Upper Canada Patriots netminder Craig Rylett at the DukeDome on Friday.

Just over a quarter of the Wellington Dukes season is now behind the team. The Dukes stand on top of their division and indeed own the best winning record in the OJHL. For the second straight week the Dukes are number two in the nation according to the CJHL’s rankings.

Is it time to celebrate? Perhaps not yet.

The Dukes have had very few real tests so far this season. When they have been pushed
the opponent has typically been a divisional rival. But in 14 games the Dukes have played only six against teams in their own division. In fact, the Dukes have played more games against South Division teams (8) than against their rivals in the East. So far the South has proved to host the league’s weakest— its top teams would be ranked middle of the pack in all three other OJHL divisions, based on winning percentage.

So the Dukes have won games they had to win. That is good. The bad news is that the row gets harder to hoe for the remainder of the schedule. Eventually the schedule will tip back toward the middle and the Dukes will face a disproportionate number of divisional rivals. “It’s a concern,” said Marty Abrams, Dukes general manager and head coach. “After the Christmas break every game but one is against teams in our division. Every game is a four pointer. Many of these games will be in the new arena with our fans in our corner, but each one will be worth two games we’ve played so far.”

In fact, the Dukes will play four games against secondplace Kingston after the Christmas break.

REPELLING THE PATRIOTS

The plan was to overwhelm the Upper Canada Patriots early on Friday night and prevent the young club from gaining a foothold in the DukeDome in Wellington. “They have a very young team,” said Abrams. “The game plan was to come out early and prevent them from getting established in the DukeDome. I don’t think they felt comfortable in the rink the entire game. Taking away the confidence and momentum of a young team does a lot, particularly in the DukeDome.”

The plan worked. On the first rush of the game, Dukes defenceman Brendon Barletta stepped over the blueline and fired a slap shot that sailed past the Patriots’ netminder into the net. The game was just 30 seconds old.

Zack Jones finished off an impressive end-to-end rush by Simon Bessette to give the Dukes a two-goal lead just four minutes later.

Midway through the first, Steve Evans slammed home a slick feed from Darcy Greenaway to open a 3-0 lead. The Patriots wilted, barely managing a respectable scoring chance the remainder of the game. Greenaway and Sean Rudy each added to the Dukes’ tally in the second and third period respectively.

The Dukes’ Jordan Ruby kicked away all 23 shots Upper Canada could muster—very few challenged the league’s best netminder.

TEAM CANADA EAST

Jordan Ruby has been selected for the 2010 Team Canada East squad in the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge set to get underway in Penticton, B.C. next month. It will be Ruby’s second trip to the tournament; last year he travelled to the other side of the country, Summerside, PEI.

Dukes goalie and 2010 Team Canada East selection Jordan Ruby.

Ruby owns the best record in the OJHL with a 1.93 goals-against average per game and has turned away 94 per cent of the shots he has faced so far this season.

FIRST QUARTER REVIEW

There would seem to be little to complain about after a quarter of the season has passed.

The Dukes are alone on top of the East Division with a game in hand and no serious injuries hobbling the team.

“Our goaltending has been solid,” said Abrams. “Both Jordan Ruby and Ryan McDonald have been playing extremely well. We have a lot of depth on our forward lines. Our veteran defencemen are doing a good job of bringing along our younger defenders. We are making good progress back there.”

UP NEXT: ON THE ROAD IN LINDSAY AND ETOBICOKE

The Dukes visit Lindsay on Friday night in the first of two road games this weekend. The last time these teams met, just over a week ago, the Dukes jumped out to a threegoal lead and cruised to a 5-2 victory. With a .667 winning percentage, Lindsay is alongside Peterborough in nipping on the heels of Kingston for second place in the East.

It is hard to know what motivates players on teams like Upper Canada. The team plays in front of about 100 fans a game in a shiny new arena in the midst of the decaying factories and warehouses of south Etobicoke. Yet Upper Canada sits atop the South Division.

On Sunday the Patriots will be looking to avenge their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Dukes this past Friday night.