On Monday, May 4, families and fans lined Niverville’s Main Street to bid the Nighthawks well as they head to compete for the Centennial Cup in Prince Edward Island.

The team’s youngest fans were the loudest as they lined the fence of Niverville Elementary School, chanting “Go, Nighthawks, go!” to the passing bus.

The team flies into Halifax tonight and boards a bus tomorrow for Summerside, where the 2026 games are hosted. After a couple of days of practice, they’ll hit the ice on Thursday, May 7, for their first-round robin game.

“The boys are hungry and they’re ready to go,” says Kevin Dunn, Nighthawks marketing director. “All in all, they need to stick to their systems and play well. I had the opportunity to be with [the head coach] the other night and talk a little bit of strategy. He says the team just needs to stay disciplined and focus game by game.”

Ten of Canada’s top Junior A teams will be competing for the Centennial Cup from May 7–17. The Nighthawks won their berth and will represent Manitoba after taking the Turnbull Cup in late April.

“Their first game will be on Thursday at 7:30, Maritime time, so that’ll be 5:30 p.m. here,” says Dunn. “Smitty’s will be our watch party headquarters, so they’ll have the games on all of their screens, and they’ll be doing prizes, giveaways, and specials throughout this week and next week.”

The Nighthawks face off against the host team, the Summerside Western Capitals, in their opening game. Consecutive games follow on Saturday at noon, then Tuesday and Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

“The final game of the round robin, we’ll be facing the number-one ranked team, the one that we’ve been challenging all season long for the national ranking, the Rockland Nationals,” Dunn says. “That’ll probably be the best game out of the preliminary round.”

Another big rivalry game to watch for, he adds, is the one versus the Thunder Bay North Stars, a team which includes a few former Nighthawks players.

The quarterfinals will begin on May 15, followed by the semifinals on May 16. The championship game will take place on May 17.

There to help rally the Nighthawks to an ultimate win will be dozens of billet families and fans.

“It’s just been nonstop since winning the MJHL Turnbull Cup,” Dunn says. “Today we heard that Dwight Hirst, the head coach, has been nominated for the CJHL Coach of the Year. It’s certainly a great story that’s being written this year for the team.”