Spirited away

The Dukes bow out in four straight games

Another season comes to an end. Four games and out. The Dukes had made a game of it in Stouffville on Thursday. A goalpost. A blown call. What might have been? Instead, the Dukes came home with a double-overtime loss. The team was down three games to none in the first round of the playoffs against the Spirit. And coming home for game four.

The team played hard. Fighting hard along the walls and digging in the corners. But the margins are small at this level. One team, the Spirit, was pushed by the energy of a team on the edge of a sweep, the Dukes having to work hard to conjure a reason to carry on the fight. Yet they did. But it wasn’t enough.

The Spirit emerged from the first period with a three-goal lead. Cole Ellis put the Dukes on the scoreboard midway through the second, but that was as close as the Dukes would get. The final score was 6-2. But it didn’t matter. The Spirit was moving on; the Dukes’ players were going home.

Yet, a solid crowd stayed until the very end—on their feet to salute their team. To say thank you for season number 36.

But the season ended with a cloud hanging over the team. With a council member openly speculating about the last days of the Dukes in Wellington, it was a sombre yet almost defiant mood in the rink on Friday night.

There will be time in the weeks ahead to sort out what happens next. But one thing is clear and nonnegotiable: The Dukes belong to Wellington. They are part of the fabric of this community—as much as the lake, the beach, and the farm fields that surround the village. The Dukes are part of the story of Wellington.

We will leave it at that for this week and look forward to season 37.