In their third season as a franchise, the Niverville Nighthawks put up their strongest showing by far. Despite losing once again in the first round of the playoffs, they were consistently able to push their opponents further and harder than in either of the previous two years.

The Nighthawks made numerous strides and the future looks bright for the best show in town.

The season began with a bit of a slow burn, with the club posting a losing record in the month of October.

But the team’s play picked up substantially in November. The Nighthawks had a 7–3 record over the course of the month and found themselves regularly scoring more than four goals a game.

All this offence came from the likes of Adam Vigfusson, Merik Boles, Matteo Speranza, Avery Laliberte, Sean Williams, and Dawson Zeller. Other key players, such as Hayden Wheddon, Aiden Corbett, Carter Spirig, Alex Ballard, and Bryce Warkentine, put up solid performances night in and night out to shut down their opponents’ top lines.

The team experienced something of a seismic shift at midseason when star goaltender Raiden LeGall left the team before Christmas to join the Everett Silvertips of the WHL.

Austin Dubinsky stepped into that role and ran with it. The 19-year-old netminder from Alberta accumulated a 22–11–1 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

The Nighthawks continued their strong play for the rest of the season, notching better than .500 records in December, January, February, and March.

The community showed up to celebrate their home team in a big way on January 25, descending on the Heritage Centre for the Casino-Royale-themes Nighthawks annual fundraising gala.

Mike McAulay, the team’s general manager, regaled the audience with the Nighthawks’ brief but illustrious accomplishments over the past three years.

“In our early existence, we’ve had three Division 1 college commitments and have had three players go through Niverville and commit to a Division 1 school while playing with another team,” McAulay said. “This season marks the first Niverville Nighthawk to play Division 1 college hockey, with Carson Reed playing for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We’ve also had two players move on to the WHL and one player reach the USHL. Thirteen of the 15 players that have aged out of our program are currently playing hockey at the next level, be it NCAA Division 3, ACHA club hockey, or USports.”

Additionally, he added, two of Niverville’s players have represented their home nations at the World Junior A Championships. One has participated in an NHL development camp and two players made an appearance on an NHL central scouting list.

“Acquiring, scouting, and developing Manitoba talent is a priority for us,” McAulay concluded. “We currently have 12 Manitoba players rostered with the Nighthawks. Now remember, when we came into the league we weren’t granted an expansion draft and 12 teams had 50 player-protected lists. Six hundred hockey players were spoken for. For context and comparison, the other playoff teams in our division have an average of six and a half Manitoba players on their roster.”

When the regular season ended, the Nighthawks had finished in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division for the third season in a row. But they achieved their best season record of 35–20–3. In this campaign yet, they eclipsed their 30-win total from the season prior.

Vigfusson led the team in scoring with 62 points in 46 games, while Boles put up 55 points in 57 games.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Nighthawks met up with the top-seeded Winkler Flyers. On paper, many might have expected Winkler to dominate, but the Nighthawks hung in game after game and gave the Flyers all they could handle.

After four games, this back-and-forth series was knotted at two games apiece.

Although Winkler eventually prevailed in six games, the Nighthawks left with their heads held high for having had such a great run.

“I was very proud of our group,” said Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst. “We lost in six games, but all four losses were by one goal. They could have gone either way. A big credit to the Winkler Flyers, as they’re arguably the best team in the league and were ranked top 10 in Canada all season. It was the little details and habits that was the difference in the series, so I’m proud of how our group played and handled themselves.”

This was also Hirst’s first full season as head coach. He feels his group made a lot of big improvements as a team and organization that will continue to serve them in years to come.

“Each year this team gets better and better, and we took some big leaps and bounds,” said Hirst. “I wanted us to have an identity and be resilient. And this was a very resilient group of young men that I coached this year.”

Hirst pointed to three areas that wanted his club to improve on this season: accountability, communication, and empathy. He feels they accomplished this with flying colours.

“We took steps in these three key areas, as they’re three things that I stand for,” he said. “The passion we showed on the ice moved the needle and helped us have lots of success. Fans can see there’s a lot of passion in the way that we play. And it showed in how they played. They became great hockey players and gave us a chance to win every night.”

Clarence Braun, president of the board of directors, was equally proud of the Nighthawks for their wonderful 2024–25.

“Your unwavering support and enthusiasm creates a vibrant atmosphere at the rink, and we are grateful for your passion for the game,” said Braun to the organization at season’s end. “Your unwavering support and love for the team make our community stronger and we couldn’t be more proud to represent Niverville. To our community, we make the Niverville Nighthawks something truly special. Thank you for making this season a memorable one. We look forward to building on this success and creating more opportunities for our players and our community. We look forward to the 2025–26 season and what’s to come.”

As one of the best young teams in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, the future is very bright in Niverville.

Just making the playoffs is one thing, but it’s not the main goal of the team. The Nighthawks are building an organization that intends to challenge the very best in the league and one day bring home a Turnbull Cup.

“We raised the bar this season and we’re going to do the same next year,” said Hirst. “We’re going to keep raising the bar and the standard for Nighthawks hockey. It’s going to be an exciting future.”