By Bill Burfott
📸 c/o Hockey Canada
The Nighthawks are Centennial Cup champions for the first time in franchise history after defeating the host Summerside Western Capitals 4–1 on Sunday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Credit Union Place in Summerside, PEI.
The CJHL season began with 116 teams across nine leagues, but in the end it was Niverville standing alone at the top of Canadian Junior A hockey.
This also marks just the fourth time an MJHL team has captured the national title and the first since the Portage Terriers accomplished the feat in 2015.
Hayden Wheddon, who led the MJHL in scoring this season, got on the scoreboard twice, including netting the eventual game-winner, on a magical night for the 20-year-old from Stonewall.
Marlen Edwards, who scored the overtime winner against Summerside in the preliminary round, once again delivered the dagger to the Western Capitals, scoring late in the third period to give Niverville some breathing room.
From there, Tyler Bernier added an empty net goal to seal the biggest victory in Nighthawks history.
Austin Dubinsky, who has been special all season long, saved his best for last and delivered a transcendent performance of the season in the most impactful game of his junior career, stopping 34 shots to backstop the Nighthawks to the national championship.
Playing the host team, Dubinsky was tested early as the Western Capitals fed off the crowd’s energy and generated several quality chances in the opening 10 minutes, but he stood tall to keep the game scoreless.
Niverville rewarded their goaltender midway through the first period when Merik Boles entered the offensive zone and found Adam Vigfusson, who dropped the puck back to Wheddon. Playing the final game of his junior hockey career, Wheddon ripped a shot from the slot over the glove of Kolton Bourret and under the crossbar to give the Nighthawks a 1–0 lead.
Summerside answered shortly after on a rare mistake from Dubinsky. While the Nighthawks were on the power play, Dubinsky attempted to play a puck that was sent down the ice, but it slipped free from his glove and onto the stick of Jordan Shaw, who tucked it into the open net to tie the game 1–1.
The opening period also featured one of the strangest moments of the tournament, as both teams mistakenly believed a media timeout had been called and both starting goaltenders headed to their benches during live play.
Under Centennial Cup rules, both goaltenders were thus forced to remain off the ice until the next whistle, leading to nearly two minutes of action with backup netminders in goal. Despite the confusion, neither side managed even a single shot during the sequence.
Summerside nearly grabbed the lead late in the period when Brett Arsenault drove to the net on a backhand attempt, but Dubinsky came up with a massive blocker save to preserve the tie heading into intermission.
The back-and-forth battle continued through the second period, but once again it was Wheddon who delivered the breakthrough for Niverville.
After breaking in on a two-on-one with Bernier, Wheddon elected to shoot and snapped a glove-side shot past Bourret to restore the Nighthawks lead and make it 2–1 heading into the third period.
Summerside outshot Niverville 23–15 through 40 minutes and continued to press for the equalizer in the final frame, but Dubinsky refused to allow another puck past him.
The Nighthawks came close to extending their lead early in the third when Evan Panzer rang a shot off the post. But Summerside continued to pressure, outshooting Niverville 12–3. And they were consistently stumped by Dubinsky.
The insurance marker for the Nighthawks finally came with just over five minutes remaining. Edwards took a pass from Panzer just inside the Western Capitals blue line, split the defence, fanned on his first attempt, but buried the rebound on his second opportunity to give Niverville a 3–1 advantage.
With the Summerside net empty in the final minute, Bernier sealed the championship with his first goal of the tournament to send the Nighthawks bench into celebration.
The championship run caps off a remarkable rise for the young franchise, with graduating players Dawson Zeller, Vigfusson, Parker Carrier, Jase Konecsni, Thomas Phillips, Dubinsky, Wheddon, and original Nighthawk from day one Merik Boles all playing key roles.
For Boles, the championship was especially meaningful after spending years building the program alongside Hirst.
“It’s so amazing,” said Boles. “Me and Dwight have been together from minor hockey up until now and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. Dwight has helped me become the man and player I’ve wanted to be, and he means a lot to me. This is amazing. We’ve been dreaming about this for a long time.”
Wheddon, who scored twice, called the moment surreal.
