The Wellington Dukes are moving on from the sudden departure of their coach and general manager. A pair of hockey veterans will replace the outgoing Derek Smith.

On Friday, the Dukes announced Kent Lewis will be the next head coach of the Jr. A club. He joins General Manager Todd Diminie to lead the team into the 2023-24 Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) season.

Lewis is likely a stranger to most local hockey fans but not to club owner Ken Clement. Lewis and Clement were teammates in the mid 1980s when both suited up for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League.

More recently, Lewis has served as the head coach of the Powell River Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for the better part of two decades. He also enjoyed a two-year sojourn in 1998-2000 as skipper of the Nanaimo Clippers.

Lewis hasn’t coached since 2018, when he was fired in mid-season by the River Kings board. Lewis filed a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal against the Powell River Kings Hockey Society but the outcome of that case was not immediately known.

Lewis’s overall coaching record in the BCHL is strong and his teams were typically winners. The coach can boast mutiple coach of the year awards and an overall winning percentage in the BCHL of .629. His best season behind the bench was in 2010-11 when the River Kings went 46-9-3.

“I look forward to overseeing and working with everyone in the Dukes program to give its fans and community something it can be proud of,” Lewis said in a statement.

Hiring Lewis is the first bit of official business for Diminie who, unlike Lewis, is no stranger to these parts.

Diminie started out in the OJHL with the Port Hope Predators and worked for the Bowmanville Eagles, the Cobourg Cougars, and the Whitby Fury in various capacities from scouting to assistant General Manager to General Manager.

Diminie is planning to organize an off-season rookie camp, typically a staple of annual recruitment efforts. After a flurry of trades made by Smith prior to his sudden resignation earlier this month, Wellington has fewer than 10 players on their current roster.

In announcing the hiring of Diminie, Clement called the Wellington Dukes integral to not just the County but the Quinte Region and Eastern Ontario. 

“The Dukes are considered one of the ‘Crown Jewels’ of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and I take my stewardship of this organization very seriously. I am proud to be the owner of the Wellington Dukes and I will ensure that we will continue to be a strong and successful organization, just like I have done every year that I have owned this team,” Clement said.

“Our organization suffered greatly during the pandemic and has been slow to recover. Our recent challenges have left us vulnerable to social media rumours, critics and competitors.  Despite this adversity, these challenges only make us better as the support from within our Dukes community has never been stronger. This fact has been illustrated by the number of people reaching out to help support the Dukes in any way they can. We appreciate your unwavering support. We have turned the corner on our financial issues and we are coming back stronger than ever.”

The Dukes did make a personnel move earlier this month, sending defenceman Ethan Sullivan to the St. Mary’s Lincolns for the rights to stud goaltender Carter George. However, the Dukes may want to hold off on printing a George name bar as the net minder played 10 games for the Owen Sound Attack last season and is very much in the future plans of the OHL team.

“I love the Wellington Dukes, but I really hope they don’t plan on Carter being in the lineup next year,” tweeted Attack Director of Player Personnel Sean Lafortune when news of the deal hit social media.

Wellington did trade for net minder Ethan Fraser in a series of deals with Trenton, but if the Dukes were thinking affiliate player Brady Spry of the Picton Pirates was a prospect to fill a role this season, those plans have been dashed. Spry, who suited up and won a starting assignment for the Dukes in 2022-23, has signed in Trenton for next year.