Jason La Rose
No team has played more hockey to get to Chilliwack than the Wellington Dukes, and no team has come closer to elimination.
In all, seven of Wellington’s 30 playoff games have been win-or-go-home, including Game 7s in each of the first two rounds, the second of which capped a long climb out of a 3-1 hole against Newmarket.
But the Dukes took out Aurora, the OJHL regular-season champion, in the semis before ending Georgetown’s hopes of a repeat in the Buckland Cup final, and capped their run through the Dudley Hewitt Cup with a 7-4 win over previously-unbeaten Dryden – avenging a preliminary-round loss – to head west as Central Region champions.
HOW THEY GOT TO CHILLIWACK
Ontario Junior Hockey League Preliminary round: defeated Pickering 4-3 (6-3, 4-2, 1-3, 2-3 OT, 5-4, 4-5 OT, 6-2) Quarter-final: defeated Newmarket 4-3 (0-3, 1-8, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2, 3-2 OT) Semifinal: defeated Aurora 4-1 (2-1, 6-2, 2-6, 3-0, 3-2 2OT) OJHL championship: defeated Georgetown 4-2 (4-3 OT, 6-1, 0-8, 2-7, 3-2, 4-3 OT)
Dudley Hewitt Cup Preliminary round: second place – 2-1 (lost to Dryden 4-1, defeated Thunder Bay 4-1, defeated Cochrane 6-3) Championship: defeated Dryden 7-4
REGULAR SEASON
Record: 33-13-3-5 (6th in OJHL) Goals for: 207 (4th in OJHL) Goals against: 153 (7th in OJHL) Power play: 52 for 253 (20.6% – 4th in OJHL) Penalty killing: 258 of 297 (86.9% – 5th in OJHL) Longest winning streak: 7 (Nov. 27-Dec. 8) Top 3 scorers: Mitchell Martan (26G 41A 67P – 12th in OJHL) Andrew Rinaldi (25G 33A 58P – 18th in OJHL) Ted McGeen (35G 21A 56P – 22nd in OJHL)
PLAYOFFS
Record: 20-10 Goals for: 101 Goals against: 93 Power play: 18 for 107 (16.8%) Penalty killing: 109 of 143 (76.2%) Top 3 scorers: Colin Doyle (9G 18A 27P) Ben Evans (7G 16A 23P) Bryce Yetman (15G 6A 21P)
NATIONAL JUNIOR A CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2011 | Wellington Dukes | 1-4 – 13GF 20GA | 4th place 2003 | Wellington Dukes | 2-3 – 10GF 16GA | 3rd place
CJHL NATIONAL RANKINGS – WEEK-BY-WEEK
Preseason – NR Sept. 25 – NR Oct. 2 – Honourable Mention Oct. 9 – Honourable Mention Oct. 16 – 18th Oct. 23 – 15th Oct. 30 – Honourable Mention Nov. 6 – 20th Nov. 13 – Honourable Mention Nov. 20 – Honourable Mention Nov. 27 – Honourable Mention Dec. 4 – 13th Dec. 11 – 20th Dec. 18 – 18th Jan. 8 – Honourable Mention Jan. 15 – NR Jan. 22 – NR Jan. 29 – NR Feb. 5 – NR Feb. 12 – NR Feb. 19 – NR Feb. 26 – NR March 5 – NR
COMMITMENTS
Jonah Capriotti – Trinity College (2018-19) Declan Carlile – Merrimack College (2019-20) Geoff Lawson – Robert Morris University (2018-19) Mitchell Martan – Canisius College (2018-19) Ted McGeen – St. Lawrence University (2018-19) Daniel Panetta – Colgate (2020-21) Frank Pucci – Brock University (2018-19) Mason Snell – Penn State University (2019-20) Zach Uens – Merrimack College (2020-21)