Ty Dilello
The Niverville Nighthawks had a big 6–1 win over the Winnipeg Blues to get back into the win column on Saturday night at the CRRC. With this win, the Nighthawks stay in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 21–13–2.
Niverville rolled over the Blues right from the opening puck drop and proved they were the better team all night long. Caleb Lepitre led the way with a pair of goals, while Michael Debrito, Ty Kennett, Kaycee Coyle, and Brendan Bottem had the other Niverville tallies.
Raiden LeGall stopped 11 shots in the Nighthawks’ goal for the win.
“I would say we executed our systems well and had a relentless forecheck all game,” said Bottem. “I would say our backcheck was also really good tonight in limiting their high-danger chances.”
It was the first Nighthawks game for four new players on the team that were acquired during the league’s trade deadline this past week. Defenceman Jase Konecsni from the Melville Millionaires of the SJHL, Josh Danis and Alex Walicki from the Swan Valley Stampeders, and Noah Asmundson from the Humboldt Broncos (SJHL) all skated for Niverville on Saturday night.
Bottem notes that his Nighthawks worked on a ton of things in practice over the past week to get ready for this weekend’s games.
“We were working a lot on our systems and getting the new guys adjusted to a new team. We added a few guys to the team, so getting them used to our systems and the way we play was definitely a big thing in practice this week.”
The Nighthawks are back in action on Sunday afternoon with another home game against the Steinbach Pistons. The puck drops at 3:00 p.m.
“To get on a roll, it always starts in practice,” said Bottem. “If we have good practices, then it’s going to translate to games. We have to push ourselves in practice every day, and if we can do that, we are going to be successful.”