The Wellington Dukes closed out the 2025-26 Ontario Junior Hockey League’s regular season with a 5-1 win over Lindsay on Sunday night.

Now they move on to larger tasks with higher stakes.

Come Friday, Wellington will be lacing up their skates and sharpening their sticks for Game 1 of their Buckland Cup Best-of-Seven set with the host Pickering Panthers. Game 2 is back in Wellington on Sunday night.

If Panthers bench boss Connor Armour is being honest, the first round match up with Wellington will be anything but a walk in the park for the three seed Cats. The former prolific scorer with the Cobourg Cougars has built a well rounded group in Pickering but the Dukes have played the Panthers tough.

In four games this season, Wellington was 1-1-2. That includes a 3-0 shutout road win February 22nd and a crafty two goal comeback in a 4-4 regulation tie January 16.

Wellington (27-20-9, 63 points) was a plucky club both at the start and the finish of the regular season. In the middle, they endured a 14 game winless skid that impinged their trajectory, leading them to finish 6^th overall in the OJHL’s East Conference.

Success in Several Forms

But the 25-26 campaign was more than a modicum of success for Head Coach and General Manager Jacob Panetta. Despite being thrown into the deep end of the Junior A hockey pool with little time to recruit talent, he and assistant coach Darcy Murphy should be exceedingly satisfied with what they were able to build and develop.

Both Landon Marleau and Roydon Smith played Major Junior games this season with the Kingston Frontenacs. Lorne Miles has made solid strides as a 16-year-old skater. Wellington was also able to sign Pierson Clute, a highly touted London Knights draft pick, to an affiliate player agreement out of the Quinte Red Devils program.

After being notably absent over the last couple of seasons, there was increased passion on game nights at Lehigh Arena this season. Good fortune surely awaits the current Wellington brain trust next week and in the seasons ahead.

“Overall, I thought we’ve had a successful season in Wellington,” Mr. Panetta told the Gazette. “The first few months the staff and players were both learning as we went. From league rules, to player movement, to how an organization operates, it was all new and learning as the season progressed.”

Qualifying for the postseason is an ever-present expectation of the franchise but Wellington is naturally looking for more.

“Pickering presents a tough challenge. They have a lot of skill up front and a good goaltender. A major component to the series will be limiting their skill on special teams,” Mr. Panetta added. “Staying disciplined is always a focus in regular season but it’s even more of a focus in playoffs. I think we need to rely on our depth up front as well. Dryden Riley in net will also play a major role for us.”