Victoria Shamrocks coach Bob Heyes describes the revelatory play of goaltender Peter Dubenski as “Binnington-esque.”
The Western Lacrosse Association bench boss was referring to the career hockey minor-leaguer Jordan Binnington, who took over the St. Louis crease mid-season, and backstopped the Blues to the Stanley Cup.
In a year of WLA blockbuster deals, the Shamrocks’ early-season acquisition of Dubenski from the Nanaimo Timbermen seemed like an afterthought and didn’t get much notice at the time.
Dubenski was seen as a journeyman in a WLA of big-name goalies such as Chris Del Bianco, Eric Penney, Frank Scigliano and Alexis Buque, all of them National Lacrosse League pros.
Dubenski, meanwhile, spent last season with the Timbermen Senior B team and not even up with the WLA squad in the Harbour City as Charles Claxton emerged as the mainstay in the T-Men crease with Mike DeGirolamo backing up.
Originally, Dubenski was thought of merely as insurance if the plans to have Victoria-product and veteran NLL pro Aaron Bold play for the Shamrocks didn’t pan out. They didn’t. Dubenski seized the chance and has spun one of the comeback stories of the year in the WLA. The Nanaimo native is 6-2 in wins-losses for the Shamrocks and was named WLA goaltender of the week for his .868 save percentage in 14-2 and 12-8 victories over the Coquitlam Adanacs and Burnaby Lakers, respectively.
“Pete has made the most of this opportunity. This is a player who was in Senior B last year,” noted Heyes.
Cody Hagedorn is 5-2 in wins-losses in the crease for Victoria, although it has pretty much been the Dubenski show of late. The Shamrocks are one of the few teams with the hint of a tandem approach in a league that is pretty much one-man marquees in the crease — Claxton in Nanaimo, Penney in Burnaby and Buque in New Westminster. Coquitlam will revert to that next year when Del Bianco, labelled lacrosse’s goalie of the future, returns from his season loan to Maple Ridge, where he and Scigliano currently have formed a formidable pair.
“When you ride one goalie, there is the potential of getting tired,” said Dubenski.
“We have two guys who can step in at any time. That’s a great boost for our team.”
The Shamrocks (11-5) have clinched a playoff berth and can assure first place in the regular-season standings with another win, either tonight in New Westminster against the Salmonbellies (9-7) or in the season-ending game Saturday in Coquitlam against the last-place Adanacs (3-14).
For those wondering about Dubenski’s experience in the post-season crucible to come, he played in two Minto Cup Junior A national championship tournaments on loan respectively from the Junior Timbermen and Delta Islanders.
“We didn’t win the Minto Cup either of those years but it gave me a taste of what post-season play is all about,” said Dubenski.
Regular season or playoffs, a goaltender’s demeanour remains the same, added Dubenski: “Being a goalie is about mental preparation and staying focused, no matter what time of season it is.”
They might not be the most glittery names in the WLA crease, but Heyes believes he has two solid choices on any given night.
“I’m happy with our tandem and the way both our goaltenders have performed this season,” said the Shamrocks skipper.
