Niverville Nighthawks ready to strike this season
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Experience, depth, skill — the 2025/2026 Niverville Nighthawks are betting they have a championship-winning formula in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
If that wasn’t apparent before the start of training camp, it certainly was after the team pulled off a massive trade Sept. 11, acquiring two key players from last year’s champion Norman Blizzard.
“It’s a win-now year,” head coach Dwight Hirst said following the team’s final pre-season game.
“It’s a good spot to be, being under the pressure of winning every day and performing every night — as an athlete, as an organization you want to be in this spot because it means you’re doing the right things… Pressure brings performance.”
Defenseman Aaron Krestanowich and forward Tyler Bernier will be joining a roster that could be the best in the league, at least on paper. The Nighthawks sent out forward Lane Apperley, the rights to Saskatchewan junior player Kanye Huang and a player development fee for their part of the trade.
“Anytime you bring guys onto your team that have gone the distance and won a championship at the level you’re playing at, it adds every little element, every little ingredient that you need to get those victories,” Hirst said.
The Nighthawks were extremely competitive against regular season champions Winkler in last year’s playoffs, at times looking like the better team. Despite that, they fell in six games.
“This year’s theme going into camp was ‘unfinished business,’” Hirst said.
“There was a salty taste in the veteran’s mouth after they finished the playoffs last year… It’s not just the playoffs they have on their mind. They want to go on a deep run.”
The Nighthawks kick their season off at home when they host The Winnipeg Blues. The team has only two games in September.
“I’m very happy having a light start,” Hirst said, noting the team had an extremely busy start to their season last year.
“It gives more time for practice, for conditioning, for strength training, for video, for structure, for everything… You’ve got to have a good foundation to start with.”
The team knows all the pre-season praise means nothing unless they can prove it day after day.
“At the end of the day, you could put a good line-up on paper but it doesn’t translate until you put it on the ice,” Hirst said.
“They’ve bought into that.”
Niverville will play the Blues Sept. 19, with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. at the Niverville Resource and Recreation Centre. The team will also be hosting a season kick-off social Sept. 20 at the Niverville outdoor rink.