A trio of Interlake locals will play for the Turnbull Cup this week.
Hayden Wheddon (Stonewall), Adam Vigfusson (Gimli) and Dawson Zeller (St. Andrews) have punched their ticket to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League championship after their Niverville Nighthawks defeated the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in the MJHL semifinals last week.
The top-ranked Nighthawks capped the best-of-seven series with a dominant 7-0 victory at Niverville CRRC in last Friday’s Game 5 and will now play for the franchise’s first title.
On the Wolverines side, the 2025-26 season comes to an end for their trio of locals: Noah Oughton (St. Laurent), Blake Farthing (Stonewall) and Ryder Kirk (Stonewall), who helped Wayway reach its first-ever semifinal this season.
The two sides entered last week with the series tied at one win apiece before Niverville rattled off three consecutive victories to complete a gentleman’s sweep.
They opened with a 4-2 win in Monday’s Game 3 in front of 900 fans at Niverville CRRC.
Wayway’s Max Collyer and Ben Roulette gave the Wolverines an early 2-0 lead, which was cut to one when Vigfusson scored his sixth of the playoffs late in the opening frame.
Another 20 minutes passed before Vigfusson struck again, scoring his second of the game at 16:36 of the second period to tie it 2-2.
Niverville’s Evan Panzer scored the eventual winner at 11:03 of the third before Zeller added an empty-net goal in the dying seconds to secure a 2-1 series lead.
Austin Dubinsky made 21 saves for Niverville, while Wayway’s Jase Wareham stopped 24 shots.
The series then shifted to the Waywayseecappo Arena Complex for a pivotal Game 4 on Wednesday, where Niverville took a commanding 3-1 series lead behind a 24-save shutout from Dubinsky.
His strong play lifted the Nighthawks to a 3-0 victory in front of 708 fans.
Merik Boles opened the scoring midway through the second period before Marlen Edwards added an insurance marker, assisted by Vigfusson and Wheddon, to make it 2-0 at 7:18 of the third.
Vigfusson later added his eighth of the postseason with an empty-net goal amid Wayway’s last-ditch efforts.
Niverville held a 28-24 edge in shots, while Wareham made 25 saves in the Wayway crease.
The win gave Niverville momentum heading home for Friday’s Game 5, where it closed out the series with a 7-0 win in front of 1,025 fans at Niverville CRRC.
Calyb Moore scored just 26 seconds into the game, sparking the dominant performance.
Edwards and Boles added two more before the end of the first period, followed by three goals in the second — including Moore’s second, along with tallies from Zeller and Kole Mears.
Vigfusson extended his goal streak to three games with the final goal late in the third.
In net, Dubinsky recorded his second consecutive shutout with 18 saves, while Wareham and Mariko Bercier combined for 26 saves for Wayway.
Niverville will now play for its first championship, with the winner advancing to the 2026 Centennial Cup.
This year’s tournament will be hosted by the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Summerside Western Capitals from May 7 to 17, featuring the host team along with nine other champions from across the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Niverville will face the winner of the Steinbach Pistons and Virden Oil Capitals in a best-of-seven final for a berth.
Virden currently leads Steinbach 3-2 in their semifinal series.
