To say the first half of the 2025-26 Wellington Dukes has been a rollercoaster would be the understatement of the century.
The end of the 2024-25 season and the off-season left a lot of questions for the county club, however, if the last month is any indication, the ship is not only moving in the right direction but running at full speed.
The Dukes started the year with a lot of new players and a whole new coaching staff, with former Duke Jacob Panetta at the helm.
Wellington began 7-1 in their first eight games, which included a season-opening win against the rival and reigning OJHL Champion Trenton Golden Hawks.
October and early November was not kind to the Dukes.
In an interview with Quinte News, we spoke to Panetta about what happened.
“We just had a lot of untimely injuries, especially on our back end. At one point we were playing with three D (defensemen) or sometimes four D that we had that were actually signed to a Junior A card. Using APs (affiliate players) all over the place. We had our 19-year-old goalie hurt.”
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Jacob Panetta, head coach of the Wellington Dukes Hockey Club talks with players prior to game at the Lehigh Arena (Wellington District and Community Centre) on September 7, 2025 in Ontario, Canada. (Ed McPherson / OJHL Images)
Here are what the numbers show.
Between October 4 and November 9, in a 14-game stretch, they would go 0-8-2-4. They would get just six of a possible 28 points. Wellington would give up 74 goals in that time, or 5.28 per game (average). The Dukes would score just 42 goals or an average of three per game. They were -2.28 goals per game during that time.
“Every team’s going to have to go through something like this at one point or another during a season. No team hopes it lasts that long, but for us it did and our message was better for us to go through a lot of this adversity now, compared to later on in the season.”
Now, let’s look at the other 20 games they have played between September 7 and October 1 and November 14 to December 14. Wellington had a record of 17-3 during that time. The Dukes got 34 of a possible 40 points. They allowed just 53 goals or 2.65 a game. Meantime, they netted 90 goals for, or 4.65 per game, for two plus goals per game average.
In their final four games leading up to their Christmas break, the Dukes had the third and first Stars of the Week. Landon Marleau had six points over four games, while Colby Booth-Housego went 4-0 with a 959 SV%.
Panetta says with several weeks off for Christmas, they spoke to the players prior to their departure.
“Use this time to get not just a physical break, but a mental break as well. Take some time away to enjoy some much-needed time with family and friends, because a lot of these kids are away from home, away from their families, away from their friends. So, it’s important that they go home and enjoy that time with family and friends because at the end of the day they are young guys, living away from home.”
The Dukes are back at it on January 3, when they travel to Aurora to meet the Tigers.
TORONTO, ONTARIO – DECEMBER 9: Landon Marleau #12 of the Wellington Dukes celebrates the goal with teammates during the first period at the Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre on December 9, 2025 in North York, Ontario. (Photo by Oliver Ulster / OJHL Images)
