The Niverville Nighthawks’ inaugural season went just about as good as it could have for an expansion franchise in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL).
It all began towards the end of summer as all the players signed by the team showed up in Niverville for training camp. When the dust settled after several days of on-ice training, a roster was finalized for the regular season.
At the end of training camp, 19-year-old Brett Tataryn was named the first captain in the team’s history.
“Everyone we brought in here is leading in their own way, just with how they take care of themselves and their teammates,” said Nighthawks head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech. “All that said, the opportunity to name a 19-year-old Brett Tataryn as captain was too appealing. He’s a player who doesn’t say much, but when he does, people listen. His teammates would do anything for him because they know he’d do the same for them.”
Tataryn did everything a captain should for the Nighthawks, as he led the club all season long as one of their big voices in the locker room and on the ice.
“I was very excited to be named captain by this team,” said Tataryn. “I’ve always been in the leader role wherever I play. It kind of just happens naturally. But yes, I was definitely trying to give myself the best chance to be the captain.”
Minnesota Mafia
The Nighthawks brought in players from all over North America to make up its roster. However, the nucleus was a group of players from northern Minnesota and North Dakota, all of whom grew up in towns that were only a few hours’ drive from Niverville.
Carson Reed comes from Warroad, while Gavin Gunderson grew up in nearby Roseau. The two towns, about 20 miles apart on the Minnesota side of the international border, are famously hockey rivals.
Travel a shade further south and you’ll find Brendan Bottem’s hometown of Thief River Falls. Ty Kennett comes from Red Lake Falls, also in Minnesota, and Braden Panzer hails from Grand Forks, North Dakota.
All five players play critical roles for the first-year Nighthawks—and within the ranks of the team, they’ve become known as the Nighthawks’ own “Minnesota Mafia.”
The team’s assistant general manager, Mike McAulay, can speak at length about these American acquisitions and the tremendous value they bring to the team. He says that they all have the skills necessary to compete in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), one of the top junior leagues in the U.S., and then some.
“They really looked at Niverville being a first-year team and thought they could come in and play a key role right off the bat, which would help with their development,” said McAulay. “They all have college hockey on their minds, and that’s their ultimate goal. So I think they looked at coming up and playing some meaningful minutes with us, and really kind of jump at starting their overall development.”
Home Opener
Hundreds of hockey fans flooded into Niverville’s CRRC on September 17 to be part of history in the making. They came for the inaugural home game of the newly formed Nighthawks and the official kickoff of the community’s initiation into the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
A stream of dignitaries followed the team’s players onto the ice before the game, including Nighthawks president Clarence Braun, Premier Heather Stefanson, MLA Ron Schuler, MP Ted Falk, Niverville mayor Myron Dyck, and Kevin Saurette, commissioner of the MJHL.
Premier Stefanson had the honour of dropping the puck.
The Nighthawks didn’t triumph over the Steinbach Pistons in their first home game, but the fans were nevertheless emphatic in their chants and calls from the stands throughout the three periods of aggressive play.
The party atmosphere carried over into the CRRC’s fieldhouse at the completion of the game, where fans enjoyed a fundraising social featuring the live music of the popular 80s tribute band Big Top Radio. On tap, patrons savoured the flavour of the Nighthawks’ signature beer, created by Winnipeg craft beer makers Torque Brewing.
Early Wins
A few nights later, on September 21, the Nighthawks at last earned their first win of the season, and the first as a franchise, when they defeated the Winkler Flyers on the road by a dominant 5–1 score.
After the team’s first win in Winkler, Cech thought the team had the potential to do some damage in the MJHL ranks.
“Winning that first one against Winkler was really one of the best moments of the season because it showed we could compete with anyone,” said Cech. “Our first win couldn’t have come in a better place, as so many of us Nighthawks had once been in the Winkler organization. So I think from there we really generated some belief that we are a good team.”
The first win was a sign of things to come as the Nighthawks came out of the gates strong. Ten games into the season, the Nighthawks had put themselves in a playoff spot, and they never relinquished it.
When asked what surprised Cech the most about his team, he said, “I think the biggest surprise is that we were able to score goals, as I think we finished fourth in the league in goal-scoring. So it was perhaps the biggest surprise that we could put the puck in the net as often as we did.”
Throughout the season, the Nighthawks gained a reputation for their comebacks in games when they trailed by multiple goals. Obviously no team wants to fall behind in the score so often, but Niverville just had a knack for staying resilient and fighting their way into the win column.
“If we’re down, we can come back,” said Cech. “We almost got too comfortable playing from behind. But those big comeback wins are really fun, and fun for the fans when we’re playing at home.”
The Slump
When the calendar rolled into 2023, the Nighthawks met their biggest challenge of the season—a slump. They struggled to win a slew of games between January and February, including a six-game losing streak.
“The toughest moment was when was Winkler scored a game-winning goal on us with 23 seconds left in regulation, in a game in which we were up on them, and that kicked off a losing skid,” Cech recalled. “We had that six-game losing streak, which really highlighted my mistakes. The good thing about that, though, is we really learned from those mistakes. And the guys embraced that challenge. It took a little longer for us to get out of that slump than we wanted.”
So did anything change from the first half of the season to the second?
“Regarding the second half of the season, I have lots of people telling me that we didn’t play as well,” he said. “But I just think teams were ready for us. As soon as you see a new team, your guard naturally goes down as it’s just human nature. And I know teams did that against us in the first half of the year. It was in the second half that teams brought their best against us every single night. To win some big games when everyone was bringing their best, that’s what propelled us into the playoffs and then into a really good series with Portage.”
Inaugural Gala
On February 23, the first annual Nighthawks Red Carpet Gala was held at the Heritage Centre in Niverville. The fundraising event brought 270 attendees out on a bitterly cold night to meet and celebrate their MJHL home team and demonstrate support for the nascent franchise’s future.
Guests were treated to a full course of appetizers, entrees, wine, and dessert, not to mention an evening chock full of entertainment.
The evening’s keynote speaker was Andrew Harris, four-time Grey Cup winner and notable member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
More than $30,000 was raised from the event, a figure which will provide operational funding for the team and assist with infrastructure improvements at the home rink.
At the banquet, Nighthawks vice-president Ray Dowse spoke about how the franchise has already made such a fantastic impact on the town of Niverville and that the team can only further the community’s notoriety for being a progressive place to live.
“The Niverville Nighthawks add one more piece to the fabric of this really awesome community,” said Ray Dowse. “Being season number one, they are still very new. We are learning, and we are building. And at this stage, I don’t think many people realize the impact the Nighthawks will make on our town’s identity into the future. And that is what is really exciting.”
Team Awards
At the end of the regular season, the club handed out its team awards to some key players who helped make the Nighthawks a success.
The Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award went to Josh Paulhus, who led the team with 61 points in 56 games. He was the team’s most dynamic offensive player.
Both the Rookie Team and Outstanding First Year Performer Awards went to defenceman Carson Reed, who was exceptional on the team’s blueline with 26 points in 50 games.
Captain Brett Tataryn earned the Humanitarian Award, not only for his on-ice play but for his extensive work in the community. Tataryn scored 35 points in 47 games during the regular season.
Braden Panzer earned the Forward of the Year honour for his fantastic season, scoring 41 points in 47 games.
Evan Bortis was named Defencemen of the Year. Lorette’s Merik Boles was the Fan Favourite, while Carter Spirig won the Coaches’ Award. Rounding out the winners was Fran Giesbrescht, who took home Most Dedicated Volunteer.
“To receive a team award was a big honour,” said Tataryn. “I think the team did a great job in its first season in really immersing itself in the community, and I know it’s a sign of things to come for the Nighthawks. I know that myself and the whole team were honoured to be able to represent the town of Niverville in the way that we did all season.”
The Nighthawks finished the regular season in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 26–28–4. Despite a late-season surge from the Selkirk Steelers, the Nighthawks were able to hold on to the final playoff spot and qualify for the postseason.
Playoff Series
At that point, the Nighthawks had achieved their biggest and most important goal, which was to qualify for the playoffs. For them to do that in their first season was something special.
“It was important to us when this thing started a year and a half ago that we wanted to bring a competitive team to Niverville,” said Mike McAulay. “We just didn’t want to come in and limp around the league, so it was important to us that we found the right players to be competitive from the get-go. Being a year-one playoff team was always the goal. And we want to set that as the bar going forward that that’s the minimum standard for us.”
In the first round, Niverville met up with the Portage Terriers, the top-ranked team in the MJHL. Portage finished with 34 more points in the regular season than the Nighthawks.
Even so, playoff hockey in Niverville was electric when the CRRC hosted games two and four to sold-out crowds.
Although Portage dispatched the Nighthawks four games to one, the series was a lot closer than it appears on paper. The first four games were incredible from Niverville’s point of view, as they could have gone either way. The Nighthawks showed that they could hang with Portage.
Game one was a double overtime thriller in which the Nighthawks missed several breakaways before ultimately losing. Back home in game two, the Nighthawks led twice but couldn’t close it out as Portage came back to win.
On the road for game three, the Nighthawks were able to claw their way back into the series with a thrilling 5–4 win in which Tataryn potted home the game-winner with under five minutes remaining in regulation. For what it’s worth, it was the third time Niverville beat the Terriers in Portage this season.
With the series now 2–1 for Portage, the teams met up for a wild game four in Niverville. For the fourth straight game, the Nighthawks scored the game’s first goal. However, they couldn’t hold the lead as Portage fought back to snatch the victory.
Finally, they blitzed Niverville in game five to take the series.
Goaltender Chris Fines was the team’s most valuable player during the playoffs, standing on his head for each and every game. Fines gave the Nighthawks a chance to win, and that’s exactly what you need in playoff hockey.
Fondest Memory
Looking back, the moment that Cech looks back on most fondly from the entire season was the team’s last two wins against the Portage Terriers, one which occurred in a regular season shootout and the other in game three of their playoff series.
“Playoff hockey is incredible and something we want to get back to every year, and do even better next season,” said Cech. “Even though we lost in five games, we were up in every single game except for game five. So I don’t have any disappointment in my heart for the way that it finished. We played that team strong, and we left it all out there. If a couple of bounces go our way, it’s a different story.”
As Niverville looks ahead to the 2023–24 season, one can’t help but get excited about the future of the Nighthawks franchise.
Future Prospects
A solid number of players will be returning to the team this fall, which is good news for fans who had some favourite players on the squad.
“We just need guys that are committed to coming back, and being a step faster and being just a little bit better,” said Cech. “And then we’ll build around those guys, and we’ll add some players. We’ve got some homework to do in the offseason. So we’ve got a lot of kids who are returning, and I really am confident that they’re going to take the next step, and that means our team and our franchise will take the next step.”
The biggest needs going forward for the Nighthawks are in net, as they are losing both of their netminders. Chris and Fines and Dane Couture, at 20 years old, have aged out of junior hockey. Former Nighthawks draft pick Raiden LeGall will likely come in as one of the new goalies, but the club will have to bring in a second netminder as well.
“After the goaltending, we’ll also have some holes to fill on defence and at the various forward positions,” Cech said. “We’ve got a lot of forwards who can return, but we’re always looking at different possibilities and being creative to make sure that we’re building the best team possible over the next couple of years that will hopefully make us a contender in this league.”
The Nighthawks will host their spring camp this upcoming weekend, from April 20–23, at the CRRC. About 150 players will be coming in to play, and the team’s scouting staff will get a good look. The MJHL Draft will then be held in June.
“We have 150 kids who are organized into different groups, so we have basically two camps running at the same time,” said McAulay. “There’s an older camp with kids who are eligible to play next year—2004, 2005, 2006 born players. And then we have a younger group, a draft prospects group, where they compete against each other as they are kids who are eligible for the MJHL Draft this year. So there are two different focuses for camp, and we’re really excited about that.”
