SPORTS FLASHBACK 1980: Niverville Clippers win first HTHL championship

It was anything but smooth sailing for the Niverville Clippers who were beaten in the HTHL finals four times in the last five years, before clinching their first league championship on the strength of a 9-8 victory over the Mitchell Mohawks in Game Six this year.

The 1979-80 HTHL champs got three goals from Vern Warkentin, a pair from Bert Krahn and singles from the sticks of Wayne Banman, Jules Enns, Vic Warkentin and Ken Doerksen. The Clippers needed every one of those markers, as Mitchell Mohawks did a lot of scoring of their own, and trailed by a margin of just two by the end of 40 minutes.

The Clippers appeared to have the game well in hand, taking an 8-5 lead with a goal two minutes into the third, but the Mohawks fought back to tie the game with three goals in a two minute span.

Vern Warkentin’s third goal of the night gave Niverville a 9-8 win and the HTHL crown, four games to two.

On the way to their first championship, the Niverville Clippers finally found a way to avoid losing to the Ste Anne Aces in the finals. The answer was to defeat the team in the semi-finals.

Continuing to show mid-season form the Clippers did just that, sidelining the defending champions in five games. At the same time Mitchell defeated St Pierre in four straight games to advance to the finals.

Niverville and Mitchell had finished the regular season atop the HTHL standings, with Mitchell gaining first place by a single point, with a win over Ste Anne in the final regular season game.

The road to their first championship was indeed a rocky one, in spite of making the playoffs most every season. In 1976, they lost to Ste Anne in the semi-finals; in 1977, the Clippers defeated Ile Des Chenes in a thrilling semi-final, scoring a short-handed goal with 11 seconds left in Game Seven to earn a berth in the finals.

A tired Clippers team lost four straight to the St Malo Warriors that season.

The team repeated a playoff comeback again in 1978, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to St Malo in the semis, only to run out of gas against Ste Anne, losing four straight in the finals.

In 1979, HTHL teams got out their brooms in the playoffs. Niverville swept the Elks in the semis, Ste Anne swept Grunthal and the finals series lasted just four games, as Ste Anne swept Niverville.

This year, the Clippers were not to be denied their first HTHL title, making sure they would not again be beaten by the Aces.