Niverville’s Dubinsky named finalist for CJHL top goalie award

Austin Dubinsky has a chance to add yet more hardware to his trophy case.

The Niverville Nighthawks goaltender was named the league’s top regular season goaltender and playoff most valuable player as he backstopped his club to a Turnbull Cup championship. He’s now up for the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s top goaltender award, competing against other to goalies from the nine other junior A CJHL leagues across Canada.

Dubinsky lost just five games this season, with a 34-3-1 record in the regular season and a 12-1 record in the playoffs.

He’s up against Flin Flon’s Charlie Tritt (SJHL), who was traded from Humboldt this season, Leamington’s Tre Altiman (OJHL), Kemptville’s Rylan Donovan (CCHL) and Longueuil’s Mathis Lacroix-Goulet (LHJAAAQ).

Lacroix-Goulet and Tritt will be joining Dubinsky at the upcoming Centennial Cup in Summerside P.E.I.

Niverville head coach Dwight Hirst was named a finalist for the national coach of the year. The Nighthawks finished with 103 points, the most by any team since the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the league in both goals for and goals against. They also boasted the best powerplay in the league this season, scoring on 27.3 % of their opportunities.

Hirst, who is from Lac du Bonnet, joined Niverville mid-way through the 2023/2024 season.

Before leading the Nighthawks, Hirst coached the Eastman Selects U18 AAA team.

Portage’s Trevor Hill is up for the CJHL’s top rookie award, with Winkler’s Niklas Gudmundson nominated as Canada’s top junior A forward.