Cam Yuill hunts for the rebound as Peterborough netminder Jacob Tugnutt struggles to gain control of the puck. Yuill has scored two points per game in his last four outings.

Darcy Murphy leads Dukes to another pair of wins

These are good days for the Wellington Dukes. The team, winner of seven of its last eight games, is bit by bit working its way up through the standings of what is arguably the toughest division in Junior ‘A’ hockey.

The team is healthy, chemistry seems good and the fans as supportive as ever.

Yet there are worrying bits—wins perhaps masking some disquieting signs.

High-powered offensive forward Guillame Naud has just three points in his last nine games. Anthony Taylor’s stick has also gone cold of late. As have those of Jan Kaminsky and Craig Campbell.

How far can the Dukes go riding the sensational season Darcy Murphy and his linemates are having?

“We cannot be champions in this league with just one line working,” said Simon Bessette the Dukes captain “Yuill’s line [including Murphy and Jeff Stanton] is doing great—scoring a lot of goals. But if we are going to go far this season we are going to need more than one line contributing on the score sheet.

“My line with Jan Kaminsky and Guillaume Naud are typically playing against the top line of the other team. Our role is to score goals, yes, but our first job is to not get scored against. We have lots of depth offensively on this team and we need to get some more productivity.”

November can be a tough month for a young hockey team—the season is now more than two months old and the Christmas break is still more than a month away. Furthermore, the days are getting shorter— typically darker going to and from practice.

“It’s all psychology,” said Bessette. “November is always a tough month—guys get tired. Some injuries emerge. But we have to play through it. There are important points we need to get in November.

“It’s tough, but you know what, we have won seven of our last eight games—I am feeling confident November is going to be a pretty good month.” The Dukes demonstrated just how key Darcy Murphy is to the success of the team on Thursday when he was tossed out of the game against Kingston in the first minute.

His linemate, Cam Yuill, scored twice in the game but the Dukes came up short as Kingston pulled ahead late in the third. An empty netter sealed the Dukes’ third loss against Kingston this season.

Erick Delaurentis works from behind the net, eventually putting the puck on Jackson Howe’s stick.

The World Junior ‘A’ Challenge Team Canada East has raided St. Michael’s Buzzers for three of its top players including netminding phenom Adrian Ignagni, defenceman Patrick McCarron and forward Mark Cooper. The tournament started last week and wraps up this weekend.

The hobbled St. Mike’s squad came into Wellington on Friday night with a Midget netminder seeing his first Junior ‘A’ action.

A minute into the game Jan Kaminsky lifted a shot over the netminder who had already committed to a low shot. Thirty seconds later Simon Bessette wired a shot past the young goalie and the rout appeared to be on.

The Buzzers, clearly rattled, called a time-out to settle their team down and give their netminder a moment to gather his thoughts. It worked. St. Mike’s managed to hold the line against a relentless Dukes attack. They even managed to score a goal—narrowing the Dukes’ lead to a goal.

In the second Murphy scored to restore the Dukes’ two-goal lead. In the third, the teams exchanged a pair of goals each (Elliot Richardson and Mitch McNeill for the Dukes).

On Sunday the Dukes skated past the Peterborough Stars in a 6-2 thumping of the last-place East Division team. Charlie Graham was back in net for the first time since the middle of October after serving support duty for the Belleville Bulls.

Murphy scored three times— each goal threaded through a narrow slot from a near impossible angle. Elliott Richardson, Jeff Stanton and Erick Delaurentis added singles while former Dukes player Cole Murduff scored for the Stars.

UP NEXT: TRENTON
The Dukes don’t play again until Sunday when they take on the Trenton Golden Hawks at home at the Essroc Arena. The teams split their first two meetings this season.

The following Friday the Dukes host the second-place Cobourg Cougars. Cobourg has won both previous matches.

The Dukes must climb over both teams if they hope to have shot at the East Division crown this season.

“Obviously these are two big games against teams ahead of us in our division,” said Bessette. “We will need to be ready. My dad used to say winning streaks aren’t like a switch that you can turn off or on. But you know a little rest here will be a good thing. This week we will practise hard and be ready for Trenton when the puck drops.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

The Wellington Dukes trace their hockey roots to the former Belleville Bobcats franchise, purchased in 1989 by 10-year operators of a successful Wellington Junior ‘C’ representative who moved the acquired squad to the tiny Village. This is the seventh in a series of tracking down former Duke Players.

Update to last week’s edition on Robert Gherson: it should be noted that he currently is the Goaltending Coach of the OJHL Pickering Panthers and also trains one-on-one with minor hockey players.

NAME: DALE CLARK
This Friday is Remembrance Day and I will be attending a service to pay my respects and have done so since my school days. It was on November 11, 1994 that I happened to wander in to the Old Duke- Dome and saw the Dukes for the very first time. They were playing the Aurora Eagles (now known as the Tigers) and on defence for the home side was a 16 year old by the name of Dale Clarke who played like a seasoned veteran.

After playing two seasons with the Dukes the Belleville, Ontario native secured an NCAA scholarship at St. Lawrence University located in Canton, New York including an All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2000. He then signed his first professional contract and ended up in the American Hockey League for three seasons. This was followed by eight years of hockey in Europe in pro leagues in Finland, Germany and Sweden.

DID YOU KNOW?
Dale played three NHL games with the St. Louis Blues in the 2000-01 season.