Abbott Girduckis looks to lift the puck over Aurora netminder Kevin Entmaa in Friday night’s shootout loss against the Tigers.

First place remains in the Dukes crosshairs

The Wellington Dukes earned a win and a point from a shootout loss in their first two games of 2014. Three points keep them deeply ensconced in the hunt for first place in the East Division— even though they sit currently in fourth place.

This is because the division remains so close, and the Dukes have games in hand over the two division leaders. Still the Dukes need to make a statement in the new year. They could do this by putting together a serious win streak.

The Dukes have played most teams close. Nine games have been decided by shootouts so far this season—eight others decided by a single goal. They need to rack up some lopsided wins.

The East is waiting for a clear leader to emerge. It could be the Dukes. January will likely be the measure.

The team has shored up the goaltending position by acquiring 18-year-old netminder Taylor Welsh from Orangeville. The towering 6-foot 3-inch netminder earned his first win for the Dukes in Toronto on the weekend.

The team also welcomed back Trevor Cope to the line up. The crafty forward scored just 15 seconds into his first game since the end of November, when he injured his foot. Despite missing the month of December, Cope remains fourth overall in Dukes scoring.

DUKES 1 – AURORA 2
The Dukes rang in the New Year with a thrilling game against the powerful Aurora Tigers. Aurora leads the North West Conference by a significant and widening margin. The Tigers have stocked up with the limit of nine 20-year-olds. They have designs on earning a spot in Wellington in April—for the Dudley Hewitt Cup.

The Tigers came to play on Friday. This would be the last time they would see the Dukes—until April.

Griffin McCarty, sidelined due to injury, was back in the Dukes’ lineup on Friday for just his second game since late September. He earned an assist in the game.

But it was the Dukes that brought the play to the Tigers in this game. The Dukes executed well, moving the puck up ice efficiently, and winning the battles along the boards. The Tigers are a patient team, however. They are particularly skilled and able at moving the puck down low in the offensive zone, in an elaborate game of keep away—designed to wear opponents down.

The Dukes were largely up to the task. The Dukes tallied first. The young line of Griffin McCarty, Josh Supryka and centred by Luc Brown, created a lot of trouble for the Tigers all game long. But early in the first period, Chad Thibodeau fired a low shot from the blueline. Brown got his stick on the puck and redirected past the Aurora netminder.

Unfortunately, the Tigers evened the score on a screen shot that handcuffed Dukes’ netminder Tyson Tiechmann. The Dukes got caught running around chasing the Tigers on the cycle. Then the puck was in the net.

The teams then battled through two more high octane periods—each earning great scoring chances, and both netminders coming up with breathtaking saves. There were only three penalties called in the game—both teams focused on the big picture.

The Dukes came out on the short side of the shootout that would decide the game. But fans filed out of the Essroc Centre knowing they had received their money’s worth of entertainment.

DUKES 3 – TORONTO JC 2
On the opening face off Steven Deeg won the puck and moved it to Erick Delaurentis, who found Trevor Cope streaking up the wing. Cope took two more strides and let loose a blast that sailed past the Toronto netminder. Fifteen seconds into his first game in over a month, Trevor Cope scored giving the Dukes the early lead.

The Dukes’ Chad Thibodeau scored on the power play later in the period to extend the lead to two goals. Early in the second, Delaurentis forced a turnover, scoring his team-leading 19th goal.

Toronto scored a pair in the second to make the game interesting—but netminder Taylor Welsh shut the door after that—earning his first win as a Dukes player.

UP NEXT: NEWMARKET AND OAKVILLE

 By David Brown

NEWMARKET HURRICANES
The Dukes only have two games left against North Division teams, and both of them are against the Newmarket Hurricanes. Known as the “87s”, the franchise won their lone league and Dudley Hewitt Championship in 1996. Before the start of the 1997-98 season they became the “Hurricanes” and have hosted a Dudley Hewitt Cup in 2008, when they made it to the finals before losing to the Oakville Blades (who are in town Sunday).

In 2009, the two teams had their lone playoff encounter, and while the Dukes swept the series, the games were mostly close. Some of the stars of this series were Marc Senecal (NCAA Brown University), Curtis Leonard (NCAA RPI) and Steele De- Fazio (CIS Queens University).

Last season, the Hurricanes made it all the way to the league finals before losing a seventh game to the St. Michaels Buzzers. This year, they are currently holding down the final playoff position with a number of talented players. Number 9 Trevor Peterson leads the team up front, while number 22 Ryan Kruss is one of their top defencemen. Their goaltending duties are shared by Bo Bessette and Jophrey Gregoire.

OAKVILLE BLADES
There are 22 Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) teams and only 3 of them have won the Dudley Hewitt Cup Championship more than once. If you attend the game Sunday, you will see two of those teams playing each other, with the Blades winning in 2008 and 2010, while the Dukes have rings from 2003 and 2011. (The Aurora Tigers in 2004 and 2007 are also in this exclusive club).

Dukes fans may remember an exciting playoff series between the two clubs in the OJHL Finals in 2011, with Wellington coming out on top in five close games. Some of the stars from that winning team were Joe Zarbo (NCAA Clarkson), Rusty Hafner (NCAA Bowling Green) and Jordan Ruby (NCAA R.I.T.).

Last season, the Blades were moved from the west to the south division, and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the North York Rangers in six games. This year they are in a tight race for second place in their division, led by number 94 Ross Sloan up front and number 23 Greg Campbell on defence. Brendan McGlynn and Mark Manolescu share net duties.