By Larry Robertson, Special to The News

It is down to the wire for the Dundas Real McCoys with just three weekends left in the Allan Cup Hockey regular season schedule.

Every game is a must win, including this Friday’s (Feb. 1) against the Welland Whalers at JL Grightmire Arena, 7:45 p.m.

Dundas has gained considerable ground on the Whitby Dunlops, credibility with the addition of former National Hockey League defenceman Jay McKee and two solid victories over the first-place Brantford Blast and the Welland Whalers.

However, in their final three games, Dundas faces Welland, Brantford and Whitby so the road will not be easy.

Cam Watson scored twice against the Blast last Friday night at home and got his third goal of the weekend in the McCoys 9-3 win over the Whalers the following night in Welland.

Last Friday, Dundas handed Brantford its second consecutive loss by a score of 7-4.
“As a group we played much better on the weekend. We worked hard for our wins,” said general manager Don Robertson. “It was nice to see Bryan (Worosz) play well, and he gave us better goaltending in both of the games.

“McKee played well in both games, and as he plays more, he’ll get a better feel for the league. The good news is he has another gear to go up for playoffs, and that will be a tremendous help for us,” Robertson added.

McKee’s addition to the roster over the weekend lifted the play of the entire defence corps, said Robertson. McKee’s play was complemented by the arrival of former American Hockey League defenceman Jeff MacMillan.

The 35-year-old McKee played 802 regular season game in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1995-96 and 2009-10.

MacMillan, 33, spent five seasons in the AHL from 2001-02 through 2005-06 with the Utah Grizzlies, Hartford Wolf Pack and Syracuse Crunch, and had a brief tour of duty with the NHL Dallas Stars. He won a Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals in 1996-97.

Last Friday’s win moved the McCoys within three points of the second-place Dunlops. The following night Dundas narrowed the gap to one point, with a victory over the Whalers. Ryan Christie and Scott Stafford scored twice each. Christie picked up three assists.

Nick Smith, Watson , Mike Berry, Scott Mifsud and Darryl Smith rounded out the scoring with a goal each. Mifsud set up three scoring plays with Smith and Berry drawing two assists apiece. Jeff White and Dan Pitre each had two assists.

At home, in addition ot Watson, the McCoys got single goals from Justin Davis, Darryl Smith, Christie, Smith and Jooris.