Niverville Nighthawks land in P.E.I for national championship

The Niverville Nighthawks won the Manitoba Junior Hockey League thanks to structure, discipline, skill and a deep roster of experienced players who knew how to handle the long hockey season.

There won’t be as many experiences to lean on at the Centennial Cup, but the Manitoba representative has a couple players with experience at the national junior A championship. Marlen Edwards and Aaron Krestanowich played for Northern Manitoba last season, helping their team to a quarterfinal appearance. Edwards had five points in four preliminary round games, including a three assist performance in the team’s 6-3 win over Greater Sudbury.

Head coach Dwight Hirst repeated his mantra from the entire season, “pressure is a privilege,” during an interview after the team arrived in the Maritimes.

“We’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year to where we are now,” Hirst said.

“It’s been a progression and a process of just getting better daily.”

The Nighthawks arrived in Summerside, P.E.I. for the tournament May 4, sent off by a crowd of elementary school kids, who lined the outside of their school as the team bus took them to the airport.

“It’s always exciting to see the kids come running up to the fence,” Hirst said.

“It energizes our guys.”

The team has spent the week in between winning the Turnbull Cup and heading to P.E.I. practicing and touring around the community with the trophy, visiting schools and senior centres.

“It was good for the guys to soak in their championship and soak in the success they had this year and relish in the fact they did something special this year,” Hirst said.

“It gives them the opportunity to go out and express that.”

Manitoba teams have won the tournament just three times, with Portage ending a 41-year drought in 2015. Ten teams are at the tournament, with the nine Canadian Junior Hockey League champions from across the country joined by a host team to make up two round robin groups of five.

Canada’s national Junior A championship ended regional playdowns after COVID-19 and the departure of the B.C. Hockey League from Hockey Canada affiliation.

“When you get into a tournament where it’s only one-game showdowns, you’ve got to focus on what you do well,” Hirst said.

“We’re coming into this tournament with a little bit of swag and a little bit of confidence that teams will have to chase us instead of us chasing them.”

The team’s coaching staff has done some scouting of the other teams’ special teams but Hirst said success will be all about if Niverville can perform. They’ll hope to bring their solid structure and impose their will on opponents at the national level.

“We’re going to inflict our game upon other teams,” Hirst said.

“They’ll have to play our game. We’re in a good position to do that.”

Five players from the Eastman region are making the trip to Summerside. Jaden Mah (Niverville), Thomas Phillips (Lorette), Calyb Moore (St Adolphe), Max Dowse (Niverville) and Merik Boles (Lorette) played for the local team this season. Hirst is from Lac du Bonnet and coached the U18 AAA Eastman Selects before moving to Niverville.

The Nighthawks are a group with hosts Summerside Western Capitals from the Maritime Hockey League, Superior International Junior Hockey League champions Thunder Bay North Stars, Alberta Junior Hockey League winners Canmore Eagles and Central Canada Hockey League title-holders Rockland Nationals.

They’ll open the Centennial Cup against Summerside May 7, in the home team’s first game of the tournament.

“We expect the building to be packed, to be loud, and our job is to upset the host team,” Hirst said.

Fellow Manitoba-based team Flin Flon, which play in the Saskatchewan league, are also at the tournament in the opposite group to Niverville. Games will be broadcast online at hnlive.ca, with the championship nationally televised on TSN. The Niverville Smitty’s will be hosting watch parties for all Nighthawks games.