Nighthawks complete sweep

VIRDEN — They grow up so fast, don’t they?

The Niverville Nighthawks may be the newest kids on the Manitoba Junior Hockey League block. But they didn’t need much time to show they’re a force to be reckoned with.

A magical regular season — the second-best in league history, in fact — has been capped off with the prestigious Turnbull Cup.

Niverville finished off a four-game sweep of the Virden Oil Capitals Thursday night with an impressive 6-2 victory inside Tundra Oil and Gas Place.

This was Junior A hockey at its best: A raucous barn filled with nearly 1,300 fans, including hundreds who made the 320-kilometre drive from Niverville. Non-stop, end-to-end action. Plenty of passion and physicality on display. And, when the clock reached zero, a frenzied on-ice celebration.

The Nighthawks, in just their fourth year of existence, have their first championship.

“You couldn’t script it any better for us,” said Nighthawks goaltender Austin Dubinsky, who was recently named the MJHL netminder of the year and can now add playoff MVP to his resume. He was a brick wall, stopping 39 of 41 shots he faced while even chipping in an assist.

“A lot of pressure, but I don’t think that really fazed us. It made us better all year.”

This was no fluke: Niverville cruised through the 58-game regular season with a sensational 51-6-1 record. Only the 2014-15 Portage Terriers have posted a better win percentage in MJHL history, going 53-3-4 that year.

The Nighthawks were the highest scoring group in the 13-team loop, filling the opponent’s net 280 times. And they were the stingiest defensive squad as well, surrendering only 117 goals.

“I can’t say thank you enough to those guys (his teammates),” said Dubinsky. “My job’s big, but they score, they do everything. There’s a reason why we went as far as we did this year.”

Niverville kept the foot on the gas during the playoffs by going 12-1 overall. They swept their first-round series against Winkler, disposed of Waywayseecappo in five games, then got the brooms out once again against Virden, outscoring them 19-7 in the process.

Add it all up and you have a junior juggernaut led by head coach Dwight Hirst, who was hired midway through the team’s second season, and general manager/director of scouting Mike McAulay, who has been at the helm since the start.

“Everybody talks about pressure, but pressure is a privilege. And when you have pressure that means you have expectations. And when you have expectations it’s a good thing,” said Hirst.

“We rode with it all season. And not only did we have a good regular season, we had a dominating playoff run here, too. For us it’s been nothing but strong goaltending, strong defending and the offence comes off that.”

The Oil Capitals — who captured the West Division with a 39-14-5 record — were a worthy opponent despite the outcome.

They swept Neepawa in the first round of the playoffs and then, in a mild upset, beat Steinbach in six games to reach the final. The Pistons were the second-best team during the regular season, finishing behind Niverville in the East Division at 47-9-2.

Unfortunately for the Oil Capitals, who joined the league in 2012, they will have to wait at least another year for their first Turnbull Cup.

The home team did get off to a strong start Thursday as forward Dysen Drake opened the scoring 2:23 into the must-win game. The early deficit wouldn’t deter Niverville, which quickly found its game and scored four straight times to pull away.

Forward Marlen Edwards led the way offensively with a pair of power play goals, which both came after some sublime puck movement. Edwards’ first came late in the first period to tie the game. His second came midway through the middle frame and would prove to be the game-winner and series-clincher.

You could call Edwards a bit of a good luck charm. He was member of the Northern Manitoba Blizzard which captured the Turnbull Cup last year. Now, a second straight championship for the 19-year-old Winnipegger.

“Back-to-back. It’s unreal. I can’t put it into words,” said Edwards, who joined Niverville at the trade deadline.  “We came in here with a positive mindset and really had it in our heads that we were going to win this game tonight.”

Niverville forward Evan Panzer scored 93 seconds into the second period to put his team ahead, while teammate Kole Mears made it 4-1 later in the period with a beautiful breakaway goal that came shortly after he stepped out of the penalty box following a charging minor.

Virden’s Tyson Draper cut the deficit to 4-2 but that’s as close as they would get. Niverville restored its three-goal lead in the third period by striking again with the man advantage, this time off the stick of forward Hayden Wheddon. A late empty-netter by Panzer sealed the deal.

Oil Capitals starter Micky Gross turned aside 25 of 30 shots on goal — including a first period penalty shot by Niverille’s captain and top scorer, Adam Vigfusson, which kept his team up a goal at the time.

“Oh man, it doesn’t even feel real. To do it with this group of guys, I don’t even know what to say,” said an emotional Vigfusson, a product of Gimli who been with the Nighthawks since their inception. “I’m so proud of this group. We love Niverville. Niverville’s the best place to play junior hockey, so to bring it home for them is unreal.”

Niverville’s season isn’t over yet. They’ll now head to Summerside, P.E.I. to represent Manitoba at the 2026 Centennial Cup, which features the host team and nine other league champions from across Canada. The tournament will be held May 7-17.

“I think this is a Centennial Cup-winning team we have here,” said Hirst.

“This is probably going to be the strongest Manitoba junior hockey team going for the Cup in over 12 years, since Portage won it when they hosted it back in 2014. This group, they’re very resilient, they’re very accepting and the best part: they’re happy for each other’s success.”

www.winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre