NITEHAWKS.....a history of competitive hockey



The idea of starting a Junior hockey team in Fruitvale came after Darrell Dickson, coach, and Shirley Levesque, manager of the Beaver Valley Midgets hosted a Beaver Valley Minor Hockey Tournament. During this tourament they noticed people from the valley in the arena that had never been inside the 10-year-old building. They were showing up for the 6:00 a.m. games to watch the young talent. This was a good indication that there were mant hockey fans sitting back waiting for some exciting entertaning hockey. So Darrell suggested to Shirley they start a Junior team, and the work began.

First they had to convince the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League that there were enough young hockey players in the area to man another Junior team. This was not an easy task as many teams in the KIJHL at the time were situated within a half-hour of Fruitvale and this meant they would lose players they had counted on. But on the other hand, it was also appealing to them, as they knew there would be great rivalries struck which would bring new fans to their arenas. Since BVMH was one of the strongest Minor Hockey programs around at the time, it seemed fitting they should have their own Junior team.

So, once accepted, an exceutive was formed that consisted of Darrell Dickson, Shirley Levesque, Roy Taylor, Noel Smith and Stuart McPhee. There was a contest to choose the name, which was won by Robbie Taylor of Fruitvale. Kim Campbell of Trail designed the hawk for the jersey crest. The first coaches were Tom Gawryletz and Murry Price. Darrell Dickson was the manager and the trainers were Barry Marshall and Leo Campeau.

The 1981-82 KIJHL season saw the first Beaver Valley NiteHawks hit the ice led by captain Tyler Bolduc. The first year was very successful as the team went into a wild playoff with the Trail Junior Smoke Eaters. Additional bleachers had to be brought into the arena for these exciting games. The NiteHawks were up two games to none but Trail came back to win the series. This set the tempo and rivalry for years to come.

In the next 20 years the NiteHawks won their division four times, The KIJHL championsship four times(1997,1998 ,2001 and 2004)and two provincial titles, the Cyclone Taylor Cup (1997 and 2001) After winning the Cyclone Taylor Cup in 2001 their playoff won-loss record was a perfect 16-0.

They set a record in Junior hockey for the longest winning streak, which started in the 1997 season and ended in the 1998 season with 39 straight wins. Many players receive scholarships and continue on to play college hockey. But, of course, the pride of Fruitvale and the NiteHawks is Adam Deadmarsh who not only won the World Cup with team USA but also brought the coveted Stanley Cup back to the Beaver Valley Arena in 1996. Other players drafted by the NHL teams were Ed Cristofoli from the 1983 team, Neil Eisenhut from the 1985 team, and Barrett Jackman from the 1997 team.

Currently there have been three jerseys retired. One was #12 belonging to Adam Deadmarsh, and #2 belonging to four time KIJHL all-star goalie Rocky Dickson, and #6 Barrett Jackman NHL rookie of the year 02/03

Coachs have included Tom Gawryletz, Roy Casler, Ed Wyatt, Doug Jones, Hank Deadmarsh, Terry Hanik, Ken Koshey, Pat Corrado, Terry Jones, Paul Matteucci and Dennis McKinnon.


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