Just as predicted it was a force that hit the Civic center but a few penalty calls along the way made it interesting.

The Hurricane squad was settling back into its normal four line routine they started at the beginning of the season as they took on the Bedford Barons team. Bedford, having a good tournament of their own, found themselves in the finals against probably an opponent they wish they didn’t have. Let’s face it; nobody really likes a Hurricane and especially not one that is gathering steam.

As the light shone through the windows of the Forum not an hour early as the Timbits hit the ice, some gentle oohs and aahs were coming from the parents and grandparents. No screaming fans, just little subtle waves to the bench, no refs getting blasted for calls and non-calls, you couldn’t help but think that you were sitting in the eye of the Hurricane. Especially when you look back at the recent heated exchange of coaching tips from the Moncton game earlier. Yup no doubt about it we were in the eye all right and you had a gut feeling things were going to get ugly soon as we came out the other side.

With play underway in the championship game, the effort and commitment to what was quickly becoming known as “Hurricane Hockey” started to hem in the Barons and frustrate their efforts to get anything going. A little break in the storm came quickly as the Hurricanes made their first trip to the sin bin. The penalty killing units were up and the pride in the way they were able to eat up precious seconds without allowing scoring chances was starting to show. The Zebras were earning their stripes as well as the second power play chance would go to the Bedford boys and residency issues were starting to be questioned. Those were put to rest as 45 seconds later things would even up.

The Hurricanes first power play would come late in the first and wouldn’t need long to prove effective as Bronsen Benight (Mann, M. Messenger) would tip a shot from the point behind the Barons goalie to get the team on the board.

In the second the Hurricane were wreaking havoc and yet once again found themselves on the penalty kill. This time Bronsen sent the puck deep in the Barons end and decided to go up against two Baron defenders to see if he could knock off some more time. Hulkamaniacs would have been proud as Bronsen out battled both Baron defenders and stuffed the puck home on a quick net drive to put the Hurricane up 2 and stun the Bedford faithful.

Going to the third period break, up two, with fifteen miles to go would mean the Barons would have to score three to win and when mentioned in the locker room it was unanimous that wasn’t going to happen.

As the minutes ticked off in the third period Morgan Messenger (unassisted) silenced even the whispers of hope when he found the twine with just less than six minutes remaining. An empty net goal by the Hurricanes was followed by the Barons only marker. A play that had the Hurricanes caught in a little premature post game celebration and was fair trade off as the Hurricane poured on the ice seconds later as the 2010 Esso Major Bantam Hockey Champions.

With the skies clearing now the Hurricane Management and Staff wanted to express their sincere thanks to all the parents and grandparents for supporting the players with the hotel accommodations, gas and food to make this week and the tremendous result possible. You may not have a number on the score sheet but you are number one in our hearts and a big part of Hurricane Hockey!

Morgan Messenger was named Tournament MVP, and both he and Alex Mann were named to the Tournament's First All-Star Team.