There’s temptation to believe that the allure of ‘Midwestern hockey’ has begun to fade.
That the dissolution of the WCHA, the weakening of the CCHA and the explosion of polished star talent in the NCAA has gutted what once made Midwestern college hockey the grittiest, toughest and nastiest style around. That the days of hard-nosed, blue collar integrity of old have begun to fade into a simple memory.
The notion is there — yet so too is the solution.
His name is Dylan Duke. And he’s the quintessential Midwestern hockey player.
“His work ethic is second to none,” Duke’s youth hockey coach Tim Schuette told The Daily. “He always wants to be the hardest working player on the ice. He usually is and I think that that comes back to his Cleveland Strongsville blue collar roots”
Known for his netfront presence and uncanny drive to do the dirty work with a smile, the sophomore forward is the poster child for classic Midwestern hockey. Team-oriented, humble and hardworking, Duke is making vintage hockey cool again en route to 16 goals and 25 points across 30 games for the No. 4 Michigan hockey team.
Look no further than the Wolverines 2-1 victory in Ann Arbor over then No. 12 Michigan State. Amid a defensive battle, sophomore defenseman Luke Hughes leveled a slap-shot at the net. Ricocheting off his wrist, Dylan Duke logged the opening goal of the contest. Shaking his wrist, he smiled, glancing at Hughes. Even in pain, Duke remains the heartbeat.
And on Saturday against No. 10 Ohio State, Dylan will once again have the opportunity to showcase what makes him such a dynamic player. Except, against the Buckeyes, Dylan will have an even bigger thought on his mind. Not only will Dylan face off against his brother — Ohio State defenseman Tyler Duke — but he will also be playing for his community.
After their initial contest in Columbus on Thursday, the two teams — and brothers — will arrive in Cleveland’s FirstEnergy stadium for a time-honored hockey tradition: an outdoor game. In front of tens of thousands of fans, the Duke brothers will share a game steeped in their proud Midwestern roots.
Because for Dylan, Cleveland isn’t just another destination to play hockey — it’s home.
“He truly appreciates his roots in Cleveland, and in Strongsville,” Schuette said. “As it relates to how he plays the game — his grit — he’s passionate and he just has a love for the game that not a lot of players have.”
Hailing from Strongsville, Ohio, a blue-collar suburb just outside of Cleveland, the Dukes grew up just a short 25-minute drive from the stadium they’re set to play in on Saturday. The Dukes took on the attitude of their city, both on and off of the ice. Growing up, the Dukes were born into a passion for hockey, and with it, the gritty determination of Midwestern values.
“I have witnessed them firsthand,” Schuette affirmed. “Both of them are just unbelievably competitive. They hate to lose no matter what, but especially when it’s against each other … You know, spending many nights at (the Dukes’) house, the mini-stick game was always taking place downstairs in their basement. And the amount of holes in their walls due to heads going through them, I couldn’t even count how many.”
Dylan’s upbringing in Strongsville represents who he is as a person and player. While certainly gritty and blue collar, those traits became vehicles of Dylan’s true identity more than simply descriptors of his character. It’s because Duke is gritty that his passion for humility, selflessness, and hard work shines through on the ice.
“You put him in, he’ll go do the dirty work in the corner and get the puck out, or do what he’s got to do,” Dylan’s mom, Sharon Duke, said. “… He’s going to do whatever it takes to make his team win. He’s a team player and at the end of the day, the object is for the team to come out on top — not for Dylan to come out on top. He’s more concerned about the team.”
Case in point: take Michigan’s fateful Nov. 17 contest against No. 2 Minnesota. As the Wolverines struggled to even scrape together an NCAA-eligible lineup due to illness sweeping through the roster, Duke shouldered an overwhelming amount of responsibility in the face of an impossible task against the Golden Gophers.
Despite Duke’s best efforts scoring both of Michigan’s goals, the Wolverines fell to Minnesota 5-2. Even with a personally impressive performance, Duke remained unsatisfied with the result and fully focused on his team.
“We played tonight, and we got to give it our best effort every night,” Duke said Nov. 17. “No matter who’s playing, I think everyone believes in each other. We think we can win with any lineup that we play with any night.”
Dylan responded with the cornerstones that form the bedrock of Midwestern identity: a competitive toughness, and a love for his teammates, his community and his brothers on the ice.
It’s always been this way. Sharon recalls during the 2016 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament that, after scoring the tournament-winning goal, Dylan offered his teammate the opportunity to lift the trophy before him. It’s a small choice, but one that’s Dylan through and through.
And when Dylan makes his return to Cleveland Saturday, his Midwestern values won’t just be on the ice. They’ll be present in the community of people there to support him.
“It’s a little bit of a testimony to who the boys themselves are, but it just shows the support from the community,” Sharon said. “All the people that support the city of Strongsville. I think we have like 380 people in our section. When I first heard about (the Faceoff on the Lake) I said I would make hats. I thought I had like 50 people coming, so again, the support around us was shocking to me.”
Family, whether on the ice, or off, is paramount to Dylan. And with 380 friends and family members donning white hats possessing both Michigan and Ohio State colors on Saturday, the Dukes bridge a gap that has split families for generations.
And while the split is imperfect — the Dukes still have family members who refuse to trade in their scarlet and gray for maize and blue — the Duke family and friends can look past their allegiances in the name of celebrating the city of Strongsville over everything.
That’s because Saturday’s matchup won’t simply be a serendipitous coincidence of two brothers set across from one another on a sheet of ice. It will be the successful culmination and celebration of two of the hardest working players in college hockey — all in front of the hometown crowd. A pristine vision of what makes Midwestern values — and Midwestern hockey — so special.
“I’ll always represent Cleveland,” Dylan told The Daily. “And at the end of the day, it’ll be where I grew up and home for my family.”
Between grandparents, warm family memories and lifelong best friends, Cleveland is, and forever will be, a place to call home for Dylan and his family. Yet, for all the love, joy and connective support of 380 loved ones sitting in the stands, there exists an even stronger bond connecting Dylan and his brother on the ice.
“They are each other’s biggest fans,” Schuette said. “And they want each other to do just as well as the other does. It’s a great relationship they have and they push each other at it.”
From texting one another after their weekend contests to watching each other play, the bond between Dylan and Tyler Duke runs deep on and off the ice. Whether it was countless, humble hours on a built-up ice rink in their Strongsville backyard, or the prestige of donning jerseys for the United States at the USA National Junior Evaluation Camp, the two are forever interlinked.
It’s a bond so deep, and a brotherly love so strong, that just for a singular moment, there’s a space to ignore the ill will that resides between two of the most storied athletic universities, to appreciate one another and how far they’ve come together.
Emphasis on a singular moment, though. Because on Saturday, Dylan and Tyler Duke will have to step onto the ice. One in scarlet and gray, and one in maize and blue. And if brotherhood is anything, it’s competition.
So on Saturday, the only rules that matter are the ones the referees can see. And for 60 minutes, a little bit of hell will break loose.
Because if family is one of the cornerstones that makes Dylan Duke who he is, the other is a blue-collar toughness-inspired level of competition that knows no limits. From pee-wee hockey to today, the Duke brotherly love often morphs into a brotherly rivalry.
While the presence of formal referees will — hopefully — prevent the Dukes from straying towards the same fate that befell a now-legendary basement in Strongsville, when it comes to competition between the two, nothing is off-limits.
As anyone will tell you, Dylan’s competitive spirit compels him to always be the hardest worker in the room. A competitive toughness that brought him from backyard ice-rinks and frozen ponds to the most competitive league in college hockey. A Midwestern spirit that provided the humble backbone for every achievement and goal Dylan ever set his mind to.
Once Dylan and Tyler take the ice on Saturday, it will exist as the new pinnacle of their still-burgeoning hockey careers.
“For us it’s going to feel like we’re playing in our backyard in Cleveland for our whole lives like we did growing up,” Dylan said. “We had thousands of hours out there, just us two, out on our outdoor rink. To be both playing college hockey now and then to have this game in Cleveland is pretty much a dream come true.”
From the thousands of hours spent playing with each other, to playing in front of thousands against each other — Saturday will exist as a realized dream for the two brothers from Strongsville. It’s the culmination of more than anyone could have imagined.