Hicks, Wolverines begin task to upset Nighthawks

The Waywayseecappo Wolverines are ready to make history for the second time in just a matter of weeks.

The Wolverines take on the heavyweights of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with a best-of-seven, second-round tilt with the Niverville Nighthawks after upsetting the Dauphin Kings in a sweep to capture their first playoff series win in franchise history.

Now, they’ll be looking to do the same in Round 2, a task simple to define yet very hard to accomplish, beginning tonight.

They play Game 1 on the road at the Niverville Community Resource & Recreation Centre this evening at 7:30 p.m., and then will head back home for Game 2 on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Games 3 is back in Niverville on Monday at 7:30 p.m., while Game 4 is in Wayway on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

If necessary, Game 5 is in Niverville next Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Game 6 is in Wayway on Sunday at 7:30 p.m., before the series closes out at Niverville CRRC for Game 7 on April 14 at 7:30 p.m.

“You gotta give them props, they’re first place for a reason and they play like it too,” said Wolverines forward and alternate captain Sebastien Hicks. “They’re just so strong defensively. They box out well, they stick as a group and they all play the same system and those teams are always hard to play against.

“They’re a strong and simple team and they’ll take every inch they can get. We make one small mistake we know that it’ll come back to haunt us, so I think this week’s preparation has just been to limit turnovers, keep a tight defence in our own end and I think just doing the little things.”

And even that may not be enough to power through Niverville, who were the head honchos all season long and ended the year with just six regulation losses thanks to a 51-6-1 record for 103 points. That’s 40 more than Wayway, who despite suffering more injuries than any other team this season, still managed a playoff spot after finishing with a 29-24-5 record for third place in the West Division.

Hicks, who led his club in scoring during the season with 33 goals and 77 points, didn’t care to sugarcoat the fact the Wolverines will once again be underdogs heading into this matchup. In fact, he believes it may be a blessing in disguise considering how much being doubted in their series against the Kings motivated them to four straight wins, an outcome nobody would have predicted.

“I have no problem being the underdog,” Hicks said. “I have no problem being doubted, we were doubted for the first round and we’re doubted again, so it’s almost like we got nothing to lose, we’re just gonna work and we’re riding the high. Obviously just proving to everyone that we swept Dauphin, that’ll give us the confidence we need to bring our best game against the best team, so I’m excited and I know everyone else is too.”

Wayway went winless in all four meetings with Niverville this year, falling 2-1 on Nov. 9 on the road, 6-1 on Dec. 2 at home, and then losing two more post-Christmas break, 6-2 on Feb. 28 on the road and 4-2 on March 3 at home.

Despite the results, second-year head coach Landyn Cochrane said he was quite happy with what he saw from his team the last two outings.

“We played them twice after Christmas when we were fully healthy and we liked our effort,” he said. “I know the results were 0-2, but we went into their barn and really pushed the pace. I thought we had them on their heels and then we came back home two nights later and we had a lead going into the third and I thought we kind of controlled the play and we made a couple mistakes and that’s why they’re the first-place team in the league.

“They got guys who can score, so I think it’s going to be a back-and-forth series and we got all the confidence in the world heading into Niverville to steal one and just have a long series with them. We like our odds.”

After making history in the first round and now having a clean slate against their opponents, who have all the pressure on their side, it makes sense why Cochrane’s group would feel confident heading in.

Hicks believes he and his teammates learned a lot from their four games against the Nighthawks during the season and are prepared to make those necessary adjustments tonight.

“We know how to beat them now and all we got to do is just prove everyone wrong,” he said. “We’re not gonna focus on the regular season anymore, those games are over. We’ve seen where we’ve messed up and I mean, Jase (Wareham) our goalie’s been hot and we know he’s going to step up for us, so I think the biggest thing is just sticking as a group together and just limiting our mistakes. Just watching over what we did, we know what we got to do.

“We’re prepared to defend well against a high offence and to attack well against a high-octane defence.”

Niverville led the league in practically every category this season, which was highlighted after notching 280 goals for and allowing just 117 goals against. They also had the best power play in the league with a 27 per cent success rate and were less than two per cent away from having the best penalty kill at 85 per cent.

Their offence is led by 20-year-old Hayden Wheddon, a former Brandon Wheat Kings forward from Stonewall who registered 36 goals and 90 points this season, a casual 61-point bump from his totals last year. Merik Boles, Adam Vigfusson and Loik Leduc also have 60 or more points, while seven more players up front have at least 30 points.

Aaron Krestanowich leads the back end with five goals and 42 points, with Thomas Philips, Jaden Mah, Parker Carrier, Luke Wagner and Jase Knecsni rounding out the six, while starting goaltender Austin Dubinsky has been lights out all year with 34 wins, complemented by a 2.18 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. He tallied all four wins for his club in their first-round sweep of the Winkler Flyers thanks to a 1.25 GAA and .958 save percentage.

Marlen Edwards, a five-foot-11, 190-pound left winger who was traded to the Nighthhawks from the OCN Blizzard for 2006-born forward Renat Nahnieiev, 2007-born defencemen Seth Quayle and future considerations in January, led his team in Round 1 scoring with seven assists.

They have a boatload of weapons all over their lineup that will provide challenges, but if Wareham plays like he did in Round 1 for Wayway, it will have more than just a chance. And its odds increase even more if Hicks continues his dominance on attack after scoring four goals in five games against Dauphin, including the double overtime winner in Game 3.

“That was really big for me,” Hicks said of his game winner. “I just wanted to be the leader on the team, we got seven 20-year-olds and even our 19-year-olds have experience, but I mean just winning that game that meant everything to me.

“I know my abilities and I know what I can bring to the table and I know they’re going to be a harder team, but I’m ready to give them everything I have.”

Hicks plays in the top six along with Rivers’ Ben Roulette and Moose Jaw’s Dylan Duzan. The trio combined for 14 points in the first round, while Cole Hunter, Kurt Rookes, Max Collyer and Treycen Wuttunee all chalked up three points each.

Roulette and Duzan are typical the set-up men, leaving Hicks to be the one to bury it, which he usually does.

“I’m not the guy to dance around all their whole team and then dance the goalie and score,” said Hicks. “I’m a big body, I can shoot, so I mean if I can just get the puck and put myself in the best area to score, I’m gonna aim for the back of the net every single time, and I’m gonna shoot as hard as I can every single time and it’s really worked for me.”

It wasn’t always like that, though.

In Hicks’ first season in junior two years ago, he hit the back of the net just three times and had seven points in 25 games. He broke out last year with 22 goals and 40 points in 57 games, and then reached two more levels with a 37-point jump this season.

He admitted even he was a bit surprised to how far he’s come, but his development is simply a testament to his hard work.

“I know myself better than anyone. I’m a slow learner so it kind of takes me a while to understand the game at different levels, even in AAA (with the Pembina Valley Hawks), it was the same thing, but for junior during the off-season, I kind of focused on where I messed up the most,” he said. “I skated three times a week, was in the gym every single day and I used my disadvantages to my advantages during the summer.

“I didn’t really have any confidence at the start and then my dad started telling me to shoot more and I slowly got the hang of things. I’m proud of myself and I know my family is proud of me so to see that progression is just cool to see.”

Hicks guided the Wolverines to 196 goals for and a power play that clicked at 22 per cent during the season — a stat line that needs to be even better if they want to capitalize on a stingy Nighthawks squad.

In the defensive department, Wayway allowed 186 goals against and carried a 79 per cent kill rate while down a man. Rookes, who tallied 11 goals and 57 points, is at the helm, but then there’s a significant drop in offence from the blue-line as Ryley Cyca is the second highest point getter with two goals and 28 points. Cale Livingston, Adam Chipelski, Jake Nelson and Brodie Heimbecker close out the corps.

While the Wolverines have a deep forward group with 11 forwards having 20-plus points, they’re also going to need to push for more offence from their blue-line to put some more pressure on their opponents.

But with Game 1 looming, Hicks and his club are ready to stop talking and just start playing. They know what’s at stake and they’re willing to do whatever it takes.

“Everyone brings the best out of each other,” said Hicks. “It’s gonna be all adrenalin. At practice today before our game we’re still so hungry and that’s against each other, I can’t even imagine what we’re going to do against another team.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com