Thriller

Dukes made a statement on Sunday

It was the most intense and exhilarating game Wellington has witnessed in years. The Trenton Golden Hawks—now propelled by four former Dukes players, coached by former Wellington bench bosses, and guided by wise men who once roamed the top rail of the Dukedome—had returned to Wellington.

Something happened over the summer that saw these players pick up and ply their trade in Trenton. Whatever it was, it must have been awful, for these folks to make this choice. (Requests for answers from the league’s commissioner weren’t answered.) A pack of other players scattered to the wind.

So it was that the Dukes team had to be reassembled from scratch. There were a few familiar faces—Connor Hunt, Will Mitchell and Zander Latreille, and Ethan Quick came later—but it was largely an expansion team. Mostly fresh faces, assembled from all over the country.

So, expectations this season have been modest. Yet, the team has performed remarkably well, with a thoroughly respectable 61.5 per cent winning percentage 39 games into the 54-game regular season schedule.

The Dukes came into Sunday’s game against the Golden Hawks on the back of a five-game heater. But few of the faithful filing into the rink on Sunday believed this was going to be anything but a blowout—as the Trenton Dukes lead the East Conference with just six losses in 34 games this season.

But pride is a funny thing. It has a way of rendering statistics, odds and patterns meaningless. Pride drives young competitors to push themselves further than they thought possible. In doing so, it leads to discovery. To identity.

Despite a narrow loss on Sunday, the Dukes found out who they are. They learned they can compete with the very best in the league. They showed Wellington fans they are prepared to continue the legacy of hockey success that still resides in this community.

DUKES 2 – TRENTON 3
The forecheck was relentless. Tireless. Fearsome. The Dukes were giving the visiting Golden Hawks no respect. No time or space. It’s a classic formula—but it takes work to execute. It takes energy, attention to detail, and persistence to do it well. It requires every player on the ice to accept his role. There can be no passengers.

Yet, this is how the Dukes managed to keep the game scoreless in the first period. Same in the second. The Golden Hawks had a slight advantage on the shot clock—but it didn’t feel as though the ice was tilted in its favour. Instead, it felt like two heavyweights determined that the other would flinch first.

The answer came midway through the second frame. The Dukes won the face-off in the Trenton zone and moved the puck around the perimeter. Winning every battle along the wall. Then the puck was in the blue paint, loose. Bouncing around. Dukes defender Nick Brady descended from the point and swatted at the puck—through the five-hole. The rink exploded. Dukes fans were on their feet in jubilation.

It wouldn’t last. A moment later, a Dukes defenceman was penalized for cross-checking. The Dukes managed to quell the uprising for a time—but Trenton is too good. They move the puck too well. Cross-ice pass, shot, and the game was tied. Jack Lisson was brilliant, but there was nothing to be done about this play.

Another penalty. Slashing. In the penalty kill, Quick’s stick was hacked out of his hands at centre ice—no call. Already shorthanded, the Dukes’ big penalty killer was without a weapon. Another Trenton goal.

A more fragile team might have sagged, might have determined this was not to be. But not the Dukes. The fight remained intense.

The opportunities came. For both sides. At one point, former Dukes star Corbin Roach streaked down the left wing. Alone on net. He deked right, swung the puck back to his left and tried to jam it short side. But Lisson’s foot barred Roach’s shot. A huge sigh of relief was exhaled by the Wellington crowd.

Midway through the final period, the Golden Hawk clung to a one-goal lead. But the Dukes had plenty of fight left. Pana Ephraimidis created an astonishing scoring chance, but the Golden Hawks netminder managed to keep the puck from crossing the light. Yet, it was still in play. Zander Latrielle dug it out. To Dimitri Tzaferis. Shot. Rebound. Ephraimidis hammered it home.

The score was tied with just nine minutes remaining in regulation time.

Then, a mistake. The only serious mistake the Dukes made in the entire game—excluding penalties. A giveaway deep in the Dukes’ end. Tic-tac-toe. The puck was in the Dukes’ net.

Still, the Dukes pressed. To the final whistle. With the net empty they had chances. But not enough.

The Golden Hawk fans had come to witness a rout—instead, they got a game that could have gone either way. It was breathtaking hockey from the first drop of the puck to the final whistle.

It portends greater things.

DUKES 7 – AURORA 1
The Tigers are struggling to put together two wins in a row this season. It took the Dukes half a period to settle in on Saturday night on the road. But then Tzaferis scored his eighth of the season on the power play. This was followed by Cory Jewitt’s 16th. Aurora got on the board late in the period, but that was as close as they would get. Tzaferis and Connor Loerzel added power play goals in the second. Three more goals in the third from Latreille, Hunt and Schaap—his seventh point in six games since donning a Dukes jersey.

DUKES 4 – PICKERING 3 OT
The Panthers were eager for redemption after being thumped 5-2 by the Dukes a week earlier in

Wellington. Pickering jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of two power play goals and a brutal shorthanded goal. The Dukes had no answer. Until the third.

Early in the frame, the Dukes turned up the speed. Caleb MacDonald skated deep with the puck and then found Austin Montgomery-Parsons’ with a cross-ice pass—from face-off dot to face-off dot. Montgomery- Parsons one-timer put the Dukes on the scoreboard. Then Schaap rifled a shot from the top of the slot. The Pickering netminder bobbled the puck long enough for Ethan Quick to swat it into the net. Suddenly, the Dukes were just a goal behind. Thirteen minutes passed.

With just 90 seconds remaining, Connor Hunt navigated the Pickering defence, carrying the puck deep. The Dukes’ defender was behind him, racing to the bench for the extra attacker. The Dukes methodically moved the puck around the zone, looking for a lane. Ben Vreugdenhil released a hard low shot from the high slot. Hunt redirected the missile, and the game was tied.

In overtime, the Dukes brought a merciful end to Pickering’s ambitions. Ryan Schapp redirected Justin Paré’s point shot. The improbable comeback was complete.

UP NEXT: HALIBURTON AND NORTH YORK
Many Dukes likely headed home after the game on Sunday. The team doesn’t play again until New Year’s Eve in Minden as they face the Haliburton County Huskies. The Dukes and the Huskies have faced each other twice this season—with each team winning on the road.

On January 7, the Dukes head back to North York to tangle with the Rangers for the third time this season. The Dukes have won both previous matches.

The Dukes don’t return home until January 14, when they welcome back the Aurora Tigers

A reminder that there are just three home games in Wellington in January; all are Sunday afternoon games.