The Wellington Dukes and Trenton Golden Hawks will be starting the third annual Hasty P’s Cup this Friday. The head coaches for both teams predict it will be a good game. Photo by Jessica Schmidt, QNet News
By Jessica Schmidt [1]
BELLEVILLE – The rivalry between the Trenton Golden Hawks [2] and Wellington Dukes [3] will be reignited Friday as the two teams face off for the first time this season.
The Dukes and Golden Hawks have been rivals for years in the Ontario Junior Hockey League [4]. Jerome Dupont, head coach for the Golden Hawks, says this is likely in part due to how geographically close the two teams are.
“We’re both out east, we’re 45 minutes away, so when you go to Wellington a lot of our fans go there,” Dupont told QNet News in an interview this week. “And the same applies to when they come to us. A lot of their fans come to our building. I think it’s mainly because of geography and over time a really intense rivalry.”
With fans for both Trenton and Wellington flocking to the Lehigh Arena [5] in Wellington Friday night, it’s safe to say the seats will be packed and the game exciting.
Lehigh Arena, located off Belleville Street in Wellington, will play host to the Trenton Golden Hawks and Wellington Dukes going head to head for the first time this season. Photo by Jessica Schmidt, QNet News
Derek Smith, head coach for the Dukes, says it’s always a good game when the two teams meet.
“I think it’s two evenly matched teams,” Smith said. “It’s nice that we’re playing the first (game) at home on Friday night but it’s always going to be a 50-50 game against them. Both teams are really good hockey clubs and I’m sure both teams will come to play.”
Back in 2020, when COVID had shut down all games across the league, the first ever Hasty Ps Cup [6] was introduced. The Dukes and Golden Hawks played an eight-game series with strict rules in place to limit contact between players. They weren’t allowed to body check their opponents, and had to wear face masks. No fans were allowed to attend the games in person, but the games were broadcast so people at home during the pandemic could enjoy them. The Golden Hawks won the series and the cup, winning four of the eight games, after the first game ended in a tie.
The cup was reintroduced for 2021-22, built into the OJHL regular season, which had a limited number of teams playing each other. The Golden Hawks and Dukes played eight games again in that season, which meant that any time there was a matchup, there was the extra push of the cup to motivate them. The Golden Hawks again won, five games to three.
The third annual Hasty Ps Cup begins with Friday’s matchup. With the teams now playing everyone in the league again, the Dukes and Golden Hawks will go head to head only five times to determine who the winner of the 2022-23 Hasty Ps Cup will be.