Wellington’s a long way from Fort Frances, but if you listened closely Saturday night, you might have just heard shouts of joy carrying all the way from Prince Edward County.
“You have to know the whole town is bouncing right now,” said assistant coach Tod Lavender of the Wellington Dukes, who made the dreams of its 1,700-member community come true with a 4-0 shutout win over the North Bay Skyhawks in the final of the Dudley Hewitt Cup Central Canada Junior “A” hockey championship at the Ice for Kids Arena Saturday night.
The victory extended the Dukes’ amazing run which will see them take to the national stage for the first time in franchise history at the Royal Bank Cup Canadian Junior “A” playdowns in Charlottetown, P.E.I. May 3-11.
“This is incredible, for ourselves, all the players, and the whole town. This was our best 60-minute effort of the tournament. We knew, with us playing our fifth game in five days, we were at risk of being tired. So we wanted to come out and set the pace.”
The Dukes, who captured the Ontario Provincial Junior “A” Hockey League (OPJHL) title, did exactly that, as their usual checking line of Mark Campbell, C.J. Thompson and Jordan Freeland proved more than a handful offensively for the Skyhawks from the outset.
Dubbed the Quinte Line because they all graduated from the Quinte Red “AAA” Red Devils regional minor hockey program, the trio finished the night with seven points and put Wellington on the board at 4:52 of the first period, when Thompson popped a quick shot from the slot past surprise starter Martin Perreault in the Skyhawks net.
Campbell then made it 2-0 at 10:27, blistering a shot from the right wing that left Perreault unable to control the rebound, allowing Campbell to swoop in and deposit the puck over the netminder.
“We’ve been going good for the last two months,” said a beaming Campbell moments after his team had accepted the championship trophy. “We know pretty well where each other is going to be on the ice, and it’s pretty great that all three of us are local guys, as well.”
“That line won us the (OPJHL) championship,” said Dukes’ head coach Marty Abrams. “They play every night against the other team’s top line.”
The scoreless second period saw the Skyhawks, champions of the Northern Ontario Junior “A” Hockey League, fail to convert any of their three powerplay attempts in the frame.
Tyler Rivers then drove the decisive nail in the coffin at the 58-second mark of the third, dashing wide around North Bay defenceman Jason Gauthier before descending upon the net and flipping a backhander past Perreault for a 3-0 lead.
The Dukes, who went a phenomenal 47-1-1 in the OPJHL regular season and have been at the top of the Canadian Junior “A” Hockey League rankings most of the year, put the icing on their victory cake when Campbell picked up his second of the game at 7:56.
North Bay, who had won the Northern Ontario Junior “A” Hockey League and will host the Dudley Hewitt Cup next year, had gone with Sudbury Northern Wolves pickup Danny Battochio between the pipes in Thursday’s 2-1 round robin win over the Dukes.
But Skyhawks head coach Guy Blanchard said giving the nod to Perreault was a case of dancing with the ones that brought you.
“Marty and Luke Oshell have been members of our team all season, and I decided we should go with what we got,” explained Blanchard. “There were two goals tonight that Marty should have stopped, but we had a couple of chances early in the first, too. Davis made the saves when he had to.”
That would be Dayne Davis, who made 30 saves to earn the shutout in the final, and was the only goaltender to play five games in the tournament.
The netminder’s achievement epitomized the supreme conditioning the Dukes were in to survive the grind of not only the week, but the season.
“Tonight was our 71st win,” said Abrams. “We played 28 playoff games to get through our league, when others we faced here this week only had 13 or 14.
“Our keys are that we practice every day, and we have the depth to play four lines,” he added. “We lose (defenceman) Jeff Caron in the first game this week, and Gordie Beard steps right in and does the job.”
Abrams said Wellington would deal with their Charlottetown journey when the time comes, but said recuperation for himself and his players was the first priority.
“We’re going to go down to Charlottetown and enjoy ourselves,” he explained. “But we’ve got a real long trip home, and we’re going to welcome the rest of a few days off.”
The Dukes will be joined at the Royal Bank Cup by the Pacific champion Camrose Kodiaks from the Alberta Junior Hockey League ; the Western Canadian titleists, the Humboldt Broncos from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League; the Lennoxville Cougars from La Ligue de Hockey Junior “AAA” du Quebec, who grabbed the Eastern Canadian championship; and the host Charlottetown Abbies from the Maritime Junior “A” Hockey League.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
