Winning ways

But team discipline continues to elude the East Division leaders

With the Dukes’ win over Newmarket on Saturday, the team assured itself entry to the playoffs in March. Perhaps this is not utterly surprising as the Dukes are in first place in their division—where they’ve been all season long.

The truly astonishing bit is that the Wellington Dukes have accomplished this feat 29 seasons in a row. Since the team was established by Garry Lavender in the late ’80s, it has never failed to make it into the post-season. This according to Dukes statistics wizard David Brown.

ON THE ICE
The Dukes kept rolling on the weekend, racking up their fourth straight win in 2018. None have been dominant performances, but all were solid. Good enough. In every aspect of the game. Goaltending. Team defence. Timely offence. Speed. Checking.

Defenceman Geoff Lawson has a talent for sniffing out an offensive opportunity— of knowing when to venture deep, without making a mess of things. In 22 games with the Dukes, Lawson has 13 points, including four goals.

There is another gear in these Wellington Dukes—and it will be needed in March. But for now. the Dukes are humming along like a 12- cylinder Bentley. The harder, grubbier work will come later.

On Saturday, the Dukes outlasted a back and forth duel with the Orangeville Flyers—a middling team in the weaker West Division. Wellington could never quite shake the Flyers in this game, though they never trailed. A positive debut for Tyler Richardson in the Dukes net, newly acquired at the deadline from Lindsay.

How it went: Goal from Daniel Panetta, offset by the Flyers. Jackson Arcan goal in the second. Dawson Ellis tallied his first goal of the season. Then another Orangeville goal. The pesky Flyers wouldn’t stay down. In the third, Arcan scored his second of the game. Still, the Flyers tallied again—making the last few minutes more interesting than they needed to be.

Yet the Dukes escaped Dufferin County with the 4-3 victory and two points. But not before presenting the Flyers with nine— count’em, nine—power play opportunities in the game. Bad penalties. Spearing. Hooking. Holding. Tripping. Abuse of official.

The worrisome bit is that the Dukes are currently getting away with this neglect of team discipline. They win games, so bad habits get reinforced.

Wellington relies on speed, hard work and talent. So, it is natural and predictable that opponents target certain Dukes players, knowing they can get under their skin. The Dukes have to be smarter than this. Wellington played nearly a third of the game shorthanded in Orangeville. They got away with it there. It won’t be so easy from here on in.

The game in Orangeville also marked the return of speedster Teddy McGeen to the Dukes lineup after missing eight games. McGeen jammed home the final goal in Wellington’s 5-2 win against Cobourg on Sunday afternoon. It was a much-needed insurance marker as the Cougars found new life in the third after beating Jonah Capriotti for a pair of goals.

The game had been postponed when snow blanketed southern Ontario on Friday night.

Speedy forward Teddy McGeen was back in the Dukes lineup on the weekend, and in fine form creating scoring chances and tallying on Sunday in Wellington’s 5-2 win over Cobourg.

This should have been Mitchell Mendonca’s night. It was, until he was senselessly, thoughtlessly, hammered into the boards behind the Cobourg net—after he had scored his second goal of the game. The goal would prove to be the game winner.

Mendonca had something to prove on Sunday. The winger skated hard up and down the ice. Working without the puck. Burying his chances.

The game was just a minute old when Dukes’ defenceman Geoff Lawson carried the puck deep into Cobourg territory. Shot on net. Doyle rebound shot. Ben Evans collected that rebound, reaching on the backhand to tuck the puck past the Cobourg netminder.

Midway through the period the Dukes were on the power play. Netminder Capriotti to defenceman Zach Uens. Solid pass to Mendonca at centre ice. Turning on his exceptional skating and puck handling talents, Mendonca swooped around two levels of defenders, found a spot, shot. Goal.

The Dukes maintained the two-goal lead until late in the second. Penalties, and after-thewhistle skirmishes pocked this game. Cobourg had two players in the box (though they were the lesser penalized team in this game). The Dukes moved the puck around efficiently. Patiently.

McGeen to Martan. Martan to Uens. Shot. Goal. The Dukes had a 3-0 lead to end the second period.

The third period presented a different story. It was clear Cobourg’s coach had offered some choice words of encouragement between periods. They had the desired effect. The Cougars came out convinced they would turn this game around. Their skating was better. Passing was superb.

Two minutes into the final frame, Cobourg scored—a bouncing puck squirting over Capriotti. Cobourg was rewarded for hard work. Two minutes later, Geoff Lawson was sent to the penalty box for an interference call (the more dubious of hockey penalties, only because it could literally be called on every play, with only the most egregious earning a penalty). Most Dukes fans disagreed, but this was a game in which the referees were struggling to keep a lid on the brewing hostility.

Cobourg power play. Dukes managed to kill most of the two minutes—barely letting the Cougars get settled. But when they did, the Cobourg power play moved the puck well. Until it was on the forward’s stick—far side. Capriotti caught out. Goal.

There were 15 minutes left in the game. After being behind the entire match, the Cougars were now trailing the Dukes by a single goal. And they had all the confidence and all the momentum.

It was shortlived. Captain Colin Doyle won the face-off. To Evans. To Mendonca still in the neutral zone. Mendonca flipped the lever, powered into the zone, again sweeping around two defenders, finding his spot inside the face-off circle. Shot, goal. He had restored the Dukes’ two-goal lead 15 seconds after it had been taken away.

Jonah Capriotti remained poised and unrattled on Sunday—even as the Cobourg Cougars found another gear in the third period. Capriotti stopped all but two of the 37 shots fired at him in them game—most of them coming in the final frame.

A frustrated Cobourg defender then did a very stupid thing—slamming Mendonca hard into the boards. Blindsided. After the whistle. His teammates threw themselves into the melee. Mendonca, however, got up and skated painfully to the Dukes bench, straight to the dressing room.

The Cobourg defenceman earned a five-minute penalty for checking from behind. McGeen scored on the ensuing power play. The Dukes patiently moved the puck around the zone. Fans insisting loudly that they shoot the puck. But when it at last arrived into the tight space in front of the Cobourg netminder, McGeen had the hands to jam it home.

Still the penalties kept coming. Mostly retribution type infractions. The useless variety.

Boys still learning to be men. Uncharacteristically for Dukes teams of the past, this squad has amassed the second-most penalty minutes in the OJHL this season. They are likely deluding themselves if they believe this lack of discipline has no cost. Unchecked, they will come to believe it is part of their success.

LINEUP
The Dukes used the January deadline to put mostly insurance pieces in place. Goalie Pierce Nelson was loaned to Picton to help the Pirates secure a playoff spot in the PJHL. Tyler Richardson will backup Jonah Capriotti down the stretch.

The Dukes also signed affiliate deals for four OHL overagers who have landed with GOJHL Junior B teams, Chatham and Niagara Falls. They are: Josh Supryka (a former Duke) and Bryce Yetman with Chatham. And Niagara Falls’ leading scorer, Frank Pucci, and top defenceman, Andrew Barbeau.

This means these players could join the Dukes when their teams are eliminated in the playoffs. However, it must be said that, the GOJHL has a similar schedule to the OJHL, so it could be well into March before these players are available, if at all.

UP NEXT: NEWMARKET, KINGSTON AND STOUFFVILLE
The Dukes continue to be buffeted by the screwiest schedule in years. After playing in Newmarket on Thursday, Wellington will play its next five games at home. After that, six of the team’s last seven games of the regular season will be played on the road.

On Friday, the Dukes welcome the Kingston Voyageurs, currently well back of the Dukes in second place in the OJHL East. The Voyageurs are talented, but inconsistent. Kingston has lost three of its last four games—the only win coming against the OJHL’s worst, Milton Icehawks.

On Sunday, the Dukes host the Stouffville Spirit. The Dukes have secured wins in both meetings against the Spirit this season. With just eight wins in 38 starts, the Spirit are a better team than their record. But Stouffville struggles to score goals—with the second-fewest in the league. But when they play tough defence they can surprise better teams as they showed Newmarket last weekend— grinding out a 1-1 stalemate. Their first point in 2018.