Dukes wrap up regular season, tangle with Tigers in playoffs

The Wellington Dukes participate in a fast-paced drill at practice at the Essroc Arena on Tuesday. Photo by Brock Ormond, QNet News

By Brock Ormond

WELLINGTON – As it has each February and March of the last 27 years, Prince Edward County’s beloved Junior A hockey team is getting set for its playoff season.

Sporting the longest active playoff streak in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, the Wellington Dukes rebounded after a rebuilding season in 2014-15 and earned fourth place in the tough Northeast Conference. The Dukes put up a record of 32 wins, 19 losses, two ties and one overtime loss this season, good enough for 67 points. In the first round of the playoffs they will face the fifth-seeded Aurora Tigers, who finished just two points behind Wellington in the standings.

Head coach and general manager Marty Abrams says participating in the post-season never gets old.

“It’s always exciting every year you qualify for the post-season, especially in our league now – the last five or six years have been really competitive,” Abrams said in an interview with QNet News this week.

“There’s a lot of good teams that didn’t make the playoffs this year, but we’re fortunate we’re one of the ones that did.”

Wellington Dukes head coach/general manager Marty Abrams explains a drill to his team at practice on Tuesday. Photo by Brock Ormond, QNet News

The Dukes also led the conference in goals, with 202. They were anchored by a dominant season from fourth-year veteran and Napanee native Luc Brown. Brown notched a league-leading 91 points, including a 42-goal output. He will be headed to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., next season. His linemate, Port Hope product Ben Sokay, fired 34 goals and compiled 64 points in a breakout year after managing just eight goals and 19 points in his first full season in the OJHL in 2014-15. Sokay is committed to Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y., next year.

Abrams admitted he was surprised about the high goal plateau.

“It’s ironic that as a team we were worried at the start of the season about our goal scoring and our secondary scoring. But we were able to lead the conference” in goals.

He added that he was impressed with the production by Brown and Sokay on the top line.

“Those guys have led us all year with Dylan (Mascarin, another veteran Dukes forward) on the left side. So I expect more of the same in the playoffs … When they go, we go.

“We’re happy that they’ve had a great regular season, but they know now we’re starting from scratch and all point totals are zero.”

Abrams’s focus as head coach in the postseason, however, will be to preach tight defensive play to his veteran blue line and the team as a whole against a pesky Aurora team.

“We all know that strong defence wins championships, so our focus in this series will be to keep the puck out of our net.”

Olivier Lafreniere of Bradford, Ont., had a solid season in net, recording the fifth-best goals-against average in the league, at 2.32. A fan favourite on the Dukes, the 17-year-old Lafreniere says he has confidence in his team coming into the playoffs after a slow start.

Wellington Dukes goaltender Olivier Lafreniere sets himself up for a shot at Tuesday’s practice. Photo by Brock Ormond, QNet News

“We have a lot of young guys – I think we have about 12 rookies and newcomers this year – but they really picked up the ropes fast,” Lafreniere said. “Throughout the year we gained more structure and more confidence as a team, and that’s what we’re going to bring going into the playoffs against the Aurora Tigers.”

The camaraderie between the coaching staff and the players have been top-notch, he said.

“Every coach has been on board since Day 1 to try and develop us into the best players we can (be). A big part of our success as team goes to our coaching staff … they’ve really taught us a lot. And we truly appreciate that as a team – having a coaching staff that’s behind us and willing to battle with us on the bench instead of the ice.”

Lafreniere says he believes the Dukes’ success this season will aid them in facing the Tigers. The Dukes won all four of their regular-season games against Aurora.

“The way we can beat the Aurora Tigers – if we have strong, structured team play, that’s what’s helped us through any game against them this season. If we stick together as a team and have a strong team mentality, then we will have as much success as we can possibly bring to the table. All the guys are on board for it and we’re looking forward to the playoffs against them.”

The Dukes will be competing alongside the Trenton Golden Hawks, another local team in the same division and a championship favourite, for OJHL supremacy this spring. The winner of the Buckland Cup, the OJHL league championship, goes to Kirkland Lake, Ont., for the Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Ontario Junior A Championship, from May 3 to 7. That is finally followed by a potential national championship appearance at the RBC Cup, running from May 14 to 21 in Lloydminster, Alta.

Game 1 of the Dukes-Tigers series is Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Essroc Arena, in Wellington. The Dukes will be in search of their first playoff-series victory since their championship-winning season of 2011.