Tough points

Dukes sit alone atop the East Division

“There are no easy nights,” said Marty Abrams, coach and general manager of the Wellington Dukes.

The coach’s comment was made looking forward to a pair of games against Toronto and Lindsay, warning his team about complacency. But 10 games into the regular season, this is about as good an assessment as we’ve had of the season so far.

The Dukes find themselves alone on top of the East Division of OJHL and ranked third best team in the country by the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Yet nothing has come easy for the Dukes.

V. KINGSTON
On Thursday night the Dukes travelled to Kingston to tangle with the high-powered but underperforming Voyageurs. The Dukes upset the Vees in a shootout 4-3 shootout in the season opener with Joe Zarbo netting the winner.

In this recent match the Vees pulled ahead with a twogoal lead. But in the third period Joe Zarbo buried a pair to tie the game at two. The game was likely headed to a shootout but for some hard luck in overtime. A Dukes defenceman lost his footing defending a Kingston rush, freeing Joey Wilson to score on a mini-breakaway.

V. WHITBY
On Saturday the Dukes travelled to Aurora for the Governor’s Showcase tournament to face the Whitby Fury. The Dukes opened a three-goal lead in the first period on goals from Darcy Greenaway, Sean Rudy and Zarbo. Newly acquired sniper Steve Evans earned an assist on Greenaway’s goal.

But they couldn’t hold the lead. The Fury scored twice in the second frame. Whitby pulled their goalie in the final minute of the game. Daniel Pachis scored his second of the game for Whitby, sending the game into overtime. Nothing was settled in overtime, so it went to a shootout.

Steve Evans was the second shooter for the Dukes.

“He made it look easy,” said Abrams of Evans’s winning goal.

V. STREETSVILLE
On Sunday the Dukes were back in Aurora, this time to face the low-ranked Streetsville Derbys.

The Dukes once again opened up a three-goal lead including a pair by Jeff Carroll. But they had a hard time finishing off the lesser team. Streetsville would eventually score four goals against the Dukes—only the second time this season Wellington has given up this many goals in a game.

The good news is that the Dukes scored nine times—clearly earning their two points.

“I’m happy to take five out of the six points,” said Abrams of his team’s weekend performance. “I’m a little disappointed we gave away points to our divisional rivals but we knew it was going to be a tough weekend and it was tough.”

STEVE EVANS
Late last week the Dukes acquired 20-year-old forward Steve Evans from the Peterborough Stars. Evans is from the Kingston area and played his first two seasons with the Voyageurs. Evans was leading the Stars in points with 11 in seven games. Last season with Peterborough he notched 30 points in just 25 games. In a Dukes uniform he racked up three points in three games.

“He is a natural goal scorer,” said Abrams. “He is very gritty. He has to work to keep his emotions in check. But around the net he is a very gifted goal scorer—as good as you’ll see in this league.”

SIDELINED
It was a tough week physically on the Dukes players. Forward Jeff Stanton required some dental work after a check on Thursday separated him from some of his teeth. On Saturday Simon Bessette took a hard shot in the foot that sidelined him for Sunday’s game.

Dukes' defenceman Curtis Leonard rifles a shot on net during play on Thursday night in Kingston.

Abrams expects both players to be able to return on Friday. There was a very scary few minutes on Sunday as defenceman Curtis Leonard received a heavy check from behind into the boards. Leonard lay unconscious on the ice as the team’s trainers tried to revive him. After a couple of tense moments Leonard was on his feet and made it to the dressing room.

“He went into the boards to retrieve the puck at full throttle,”
said Abrams. “But just as he neared the boards he lost an edge on his skates and he was crushed into the boards by a check from behind.

“It was a scary couple of minutes. He was knocked out an didn’t move for a while. Hopefully he’ll be okay but he won’t return until he is cleared by our team doctor.”

UP NEXT: TORONTO AND LINDSAY
The Toronto Junior Canadiens without coach Dan Cameron have won just a single game so far in 11 games. They’ve scored the league’s fewest goals at 14—just over a goal a game. So how do the Dukes prepare to host Toronto at the DukeDome on Friday?

“We can’t look past this team,” said Abrams. “Just this week they’ve picked up a top goalie, which had been their problem. They have certainly solidified that position.

“They’ve also picked up Jordan Ramsey from Pickering who is a 30-goal scorer. So they have made some adjustments that will make them a better hockey team.

“We’ve been in this situation before. We have to be mentally prepared or this is the kind of game that can come back to haunt us.”

GOING FISHING
On Sunday the Dukes travel to the Kawarthas to face the Lindsay Muskies for the first time this season.

“I expect Lindsay to be big and tough and difficult to play against-just like past Lindsay teams. The Eastern Conference has proven to be the toughest division in the league. There are no easy nights,” said Abrams.