Following the maxim ‘it is always a good idea to take a shot on net’ Dukes forward Trevor Cope (9) fires the puck toward the net. Enroute the puck hits a defenceman’s skate and slides through the netminder’s pads.

Dukes notch sixth straight win in shootout nailbiter

What a difference a week makes. Last Wednesday the Wellington Dukes were languishing near the bottom of the early season standings, having won three games but losing two others. In the seven days since then, they have won four games in a row with a pair of shutouts. In fact, after a pair of losses in mid-September, the Dukes have won six games straight.

This morning the Dukes stand alone atop the East Division of the OJHL with 14 points and boast the second best winning percentage in the entire league. Like Dukes teams of the past, this squad has quickly learned that winning starts with strong goaltending, mobile and feisty defence and opportunistic scoring. Each of the players has bought into the game plan. They know their roles. They know they are expected to battle hard at both ends of the rink. They know that when they are the hardest working team on the ice—they win.

One of the toughest aspects of the game for gifted young athletes to learn is to maintain intensity through an entire game played against lower ranked opponents. When the Dukes have struggled it is when they believed the game was in hand. It has hurt them a couple of times. It nearly happened again after a long bus ride to Hamilton last Thursday.

DUKES 6 – HAMILTON 3
The Dukes jumped out to a three-goal lead early in the game with goals from Steven Deeg, Patrick Kudla and Parker Wood. But as witnessed in previous games, the Dukes came out flat in the second period and Hamilton capitalized with a pair of goals. But before the game got away from them Dukes forward Abbott Girduckis scored his first of the season to restore a two-goal lead. With just seconds before the second intermission Hamilton scored again. The game that began so well was turning into another dogfight.

Early in the third period Joe McKeown righted the ship with a blast from the slot while on the power play. Spencer Turcotte tallied later in the period—once again on the power play—sealing the road win.

DUKES 4 – STOUFFVILLE 0
Mike Soucier and Adam Wood stole the show in the Dukes home opener on Friday night. Wood earned the shutout in his first game since he was shelled with five goals against Trenton on Sept 13.

Griffin McCarty is earning a growing amount of ice time with the Dukes.

Wood was sharp and full value for the shutout—but he was aided by his teammates who played better and more coordinated in their own end than they had done in Trenton. There was nothing particularly splashy or dazzling about the Dukes play—just effective, proficient and diligent.

Tight forechecking and strong passing enabled them to control much of the play deep in the Stouffville end. Midway through the period Luc Brown found Mike Soucier with a pass from the corner scrum. Soucier slid laterally through the mid-slot area until he saw daylight, fired and scored. In the second period Trevor Cope extended the Dukes lead while on the power play. Shortly thereafter Jake Panetta found the back of the net with a booming shot from the point. In the third, Soucier scored again on the power play. Late in the game a frustrated Stouffville squad tried to salvage some pride by turning up the goon work. But the Dukes showed discipline in skating away.

The game was over. Adam Wood and the Dukes had their first shutout of the season.

They wouldn’t have to wait long for another.

DUKES 6 – NEWMARKET 0
 It was likely with mixed feelings that Cam Nicoll, Nic Coric and Greg Christmas faced their former teammates on Sunday. All three now play with the Newmarket Hurricanes. After an impressive start with their new club, the guns of Coric and Nicoll have cooled off in recent games. Yet Newmarket stands atop the North Division.

The Dukes face the Hurricanes in Oakville as part of the Governors Showcase. This time it was Lucas Machalski’s turn to make an impression— turning away all 38 shots directed his way. Cody Gratton led the Dukes’ offence scoring twice and assisting on two others. Steve Deeg scored a pair and assisted on another. Spencer Turcottle and Mike Soucier added singles. Kyle Paat earned two assists.

The Dukes had their third win in four days— and second shutout in consecutive games. They were due for a rest. But the schedule maker had other plans.

DUKES 4 – COBOURG 3
On Monday the Dukes got aboard the bus again to travel an hour down the 401. Despite sitting second last in the East Division, Cobourg owns one of the best winning percentages in the OJHL—a measure of the toughness of this division.

Adam Wood earned the shutout in the Dukes homeopener on Friday night.

Yet with a pair of shutout wins the Dukes may have gotten ahead of themselves. They got a sobering wake-up call early in Monday night’s game. Cobourg jumped out to a two-goal lead with a pair from the Cougar’s Stuart King. The game was barely five minutes old.

Slowly, but surely the Dukes began to regain their legs. Trevor Cope scored midway through the period. Then Mike Soucier scored to tie the game at two—his team-leading 13th point in nine games. But a moment later Cobourg regained the lead on the power play.

Cobourg turned up the pressure, working hard to preserve the narrow lead. But Dukes forward Erick Delaurentis had other plans, scoring on a feed from Deeg to tie the game midway through the third frame. In the shootout needed to settle the game, Delaurentis and Soucier scored to secure the win, and the streak, for the Dukes.

UP NEXT: AURORA, TRENTON AND LINDSAY
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Dukes in the near future. Tonight they head to Aurora to face the Tigers. Aurora sits in the middle of the pack in the North Division with a .500 winning percentage.

On Friday comes the rematch many Dukes fans have been waiting for. That is when Wellington welcomes Trenton for their second meeting this season. Trenton won the first game by a decisive 6-2 score. But aside from a couple of brief breakdowns, the game was closer than indicated by the score.

The Dukes are a different, more structured squad than in mid-September. Dukes fans are looking for a very different outcome on Friday night.

On Sunday the Dukes entertain the Lindsay Muskies for the first time this season.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
The Dukes have named Mike Soucier the player of the month for September. The 18-year-old forward led the team with 13 points, including six goals, as well as the shootout winner in the teams 4 – 3 win over the Cobourg Cougars on Monday. He had at least one point in all but one game and picked up eight points on the power play.

Soucier will be presented with a cheque for $275 (to cover billet fees) by the Royal Canadian Legion Wellington branch before the game on Friday night.

After playing midget hockey with the AAA Mississauga Rebels, the Caledon native joined the Dukes last season and recorded 22 points in 46 games and was named to the OJHL second All-Prospect Team. He has committed to play for Bemidji State University of the NCAA.

BY THE NUMBERS

STORY: DAVID BROWN

The OJHL Showcase held in Oakville this weekend had all of the teams playing out of their division opponents. When the smoke cleared, the final won/loss records for each division were:

East 5 and 0
South 5 and 1
West 1 and 5
North 0 and 5

• Prior to Monday’s game against Cobourg, Wellington had not allowed a goal in their previous 140 minutes and 43 seconds of play;

• The 22 teams in the OJHL have combined for just six shutouts so far with the Dukes having two of them;

• Mike Soucier’s 12 points has him in fourth place in OJHL scoring. Cody Gratton has nine points, 19th in the OJHL;

• Lucas Michalski has a 2.14 GAA and a .939 save percentage, both rank him 5th in the OJHL;

When the Dukes return home in the wee hours of Thursday morning from Aurora, they will have completed their first 10 games of the regular season, with eight of those games played on the road. Over this 21 day period the Dukes will have travelled 2,536 kilometres and if you throw in that little tournament they played in Vermont, four games in three days, add on another 1,058 kilometres for a total of 3,594 kilometres. And they still have 19 more away games on the schedule. Road Warriors indeed.