The Niverville Nighthawks will kick off their third campaign in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) with their regular season home-opener against the Winnipeg Freeze on Friday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the CRRC.
Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst, who joined the club midway through last season, is elated for his first full season behind an MJHL bench and is ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
“I’m excited to get things going and getting things together the way I see fit in regard to the on-ice preparation and off-ice conditioning,” says Hirst. “Having a thumbprint on the day-to-day routine is crucial to how I see this team getting prepared for the season ahead. I’m also really looking forward to the fresh start of a full season. We’re setting ourselves up to be the team that doesn’t quit until the game is over. We want to play hard, fast, and resilient every single night.”
Coach Hirst has been very pleased with the high intensity throughout the team’s training camp in the past few weeks, as well as the focus of all the players who attended.
After a successful preseason in which the Nighthawks won four out of five games, he says the Niverville squad is ready for its best season yet.
“The veterans came back ready to go, and the new players also came ready to show themselves,” says Hirst. “There was lots of character that came out of the camp and in the preseason.”
There will be lots of returning names to the Nighthawks roster this season, including Caleb Lepitre, Raiden LeGall, Merik Boles, Avery Laliberte, Ty Kennett, Hayden Wheddon, Adam Vigfusson, Luke Mackenzie, Carter Spirig, and Bryce Warkentine. These veterans will all be looking to carve out key roles with the third-year franchise.
The Nighthawks also received a big boost towards the end of training camp when goaltender Raiden LeGall rejoined the team after returning from a USHL tryout. The Bemidji State University recruit will team up with Austin Dubinsky to form the club’s latest goaltending tandem.
“Getting Raiden back for this season is huge for us, and having Austin here as well is going to be huge for our team,” Hirst says. “We strongly believe that we have two very top-notch goaltenders that will push each other and compete in practice as well.”
In the early weeks of the season, Hirst points to several things that will help ensure the team is winning games and moving up in the league standings.
“The first month of the season is going to be spent on the team’s systems, conditioning, and getting to the points we need to be at for the upcoming season and staying there throughout the year.”
The Nighthawks’ team goal this season is to get back to the MJHL playoffs for a third straight year. They expect to be a relevant playoff team that can compete nightly with the upper-echelon clubs in this league.
“This is the third year here as a program, and some steps have to be taken in the upward trajectory to get better every single day.”
Here is the complete opening night roster for the Niverville Nighthawks:
#33 Austin Dubinsky
#49 Lucas Bertolin
#11 Matthew Bertolin
#3 Brock Assailly
#9 Lane Apperley
#6 Alex Ballard
#25 Caleb Lepitre
#29 Noah Asmundson
#4 Holdin Getzlaf
#17 Parker Carrier
#12 Jase Konecsni
#71 Luke Wagner
#31 Raiden Legall
#14 Aiden Corbett
#55 Merik Boles
#8 Avery Laliberte
#10 Evan Panzer
#19 Ty Kennett
#21 Dawson Zeller
#18 Hayden Wheddon
#15 Adam Vigfusson
#37 Luke Mackenzie
#22 Carter Spirig
#77 Bryce Warkentine
#7 Matteo Speranza
