JASON PARKS
EDITOR
The Wellington Dukes are hoping a little home cooking will serve as a goaltending solution in the 2023-24 Ontario Junior Hockey League season.
Among the flurry of signings the Dukes have made in recent weeks in an effort to rebuild their severely depleted roster was the inking of Wellington native Nolan Lane.
Mr. Lane turned in a solid season in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2022-23. Last season with the Fort Erie Meteors, Lane was 13-7-2 in 25 GOJHL games, posting a 2.79 Goals Against Average along with a .906 Save Percentage as well as appearing in the GOJHL’s Future Stars game.
Prior to that as a 17-year-old rookie in Picton, Mr. Lane was 11-5-0 with the Provincial Junior Hockey League Pirates in 2021-22.
In a Wellington Dukes social media post, Mr. Lane called the chance to play for his home town club a “Dream come true.”
“I can’t wait to come home and play for my home town team and in front of the best fans in junior hockey,” Mr. Lane said.
Zander Latreille. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
On the back end, the Dukes have added undersized puck moving defence man Logan Goodwin along with rugged rearguards William Whelton and Colin Smith.
Mr. Goodwin, 18, was a standout with the Okanagan Hockey Academy last year, scoring five goals and adding 21 helpers in 31 games with one of BC’s top hockey prep schools.
Meanwhile, Mr. Smith, 19, was a no nonsense defender splitting time between Caledonia and Pelham of the GOJHL and was a teammate of Mr. Whelton, 20, when they both played for the Corvairs.
Up front, the Dukes are bringing back Zander Latreille who was farmed out to Leamington of the GOJHL from Wellington at the Jan. 10, 2023 trade deadline.
Other forward additions include pivots Hayden Pimm, 19, Liam Lucas, 20, right winger Cory Jewitt, 19. Those three new additions come from Kamloops, BC, Ottawa and Listowel, ON, respectively.
Closer-to-home additions include Yarker’s Mason Goodfellow who had standout campaign with the Kingston AAA Golden Gaels U16 team in 2022-23, setting a goal-per-game pace with 31 tallies in as many contests. Welllington has also added Quinte Red Devil Ben Verugdenhil who had 22 points in 36 Eastern AAA games last season.
The 6’ 4” 220lb 17-year-old is the cousin of 2022-23 Wellington Dukes captain Jacob Verugdenhil.
The Dukes are rebuilding their billet system and are in desperate need of safe and welcoming accommodations for out-of-town players. For more information, please visit www.wellingtondukes.com/billets .