Niverville Nighthawks aiming for first playoff round victory
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Their opponent may be familiar, but the Niverville Nighthawks are in a completely different position heading into the 2026 Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs.
They’ll once again be taking on the Winkler Flyers in the East Division one versus four best-of-seven series, but this year the Nighthawks had the dominant regular season, with Winkler finishing in fourth.
“There’s no unfamiliar territory,” Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst said.
“This year the shoe is on the other foot… Our guys are just as excited to get to the playoffs as anyone else.”
Hirst said he thought a hard-nosed, physical six game victory for Winkler last year weakened the pre-playoff favourites for their eventual loss in the second round, and is anticipating a similarly demanding series this year.
“There’s respect going both ways,” Hirst said.
Niverville put the finishing touches on a historic regular season last weekend, finishing with 103 points, the most since the COVID-19 pandemic in the MJHL. They have a goal difference of plus-163.
On the other end of the match-up are a Flyers team that might be more dangerous than their spot in the standings would indicate. The Flyers took full advantage of the trade market this season, making some key additions in early January.
They traded for Kade Stringer, Rhylan Baxter, Ethan MacTavish and Riley Fequet in three separate deals, adding three forwards and a defenseman to up their veteran presence.
Those four players have combined to score 68 points in Flyers jerseys since the deadline. In January and February, Winkler lost just four games.
The additions combined with improved play from younger players like St Adophe’s Graeme Pickering, has them boasting a goal difference of plus-75, more than 50 goals better than third-place Portage.
Niverville boasts an impressive 4-1 record against Winkler in the regular season this season, although just one of those games was played in the new year, with the Flyers coming out on top in a 7-5 barnburner.
The Nighthawks finished first in the league standings, with the most goals scored and the fewest given up, boasting one of the best top lines in the league that’s now fully healthy and the league’s top goaltender.
“We’ve said it since the beginning of the year about the group we’ve put together, and the team we’ve had since day one — Pressure is a privilege,” Hirst said.
“Learn to deal with it, learn to understand it, learn to handle it… There’s lots to prove with us.”
Niverville and Winkler are set to play games on alternate days, switching between the two rinks beginning March 21. Game one will be in Niverville, with a start time of 7:30 p.m. Games in Niverville will start at 7:30 p.m. except for game five, which is set for a 3 p.m. start on Sunday, March 29.
The match-ups in the East Division playoffs are exactly the same as the 2025, with only Winkler and Niverville flipping places. Portage will play Steinbach in the other East series. The league re-seeds after a division-based quarterfinal.
In the West, top seed Virden will play Neepawa and Dauphin will play Waywayseecappo. Virden finished with the highest goal difference in the league outside of Niverville and Steinbach.