The BMO Hurricanes first look at the Bay Gulls was well…interesting. The game was a little back and forth and involved moments where the play was full of scrambles. The Hurricanes still got their chances though and although not picture perfect the end result is the same.  

At the midpoint of the first period on a shot that was kind of thrown at the net Ty Duffus(C Tufts, Adams) managed to be the last to touch the puck before it somehow found its way across the goal line to open the scoring.

The Hurricanes were skating well and creating some good chances but the Gulls goaltending was holding them in.  About four minutes after the first goal, a little bit of a scramble resulted in the second Hurricanes goal as Christian Tufts (Messenger, Jollimore) swept up the loose puck to send it home at the 8:05 mark.

The second period saw the Gulls come with more pressure and generated a little success getting some good scoring chances. Jake Wile in nets stood tall between the pipes and scooped up any rebounds that could have been trouble. The Hurricanes started stretching the ice and relieved some pressure but a few breakaway passes from the back end just failed to connect to a couple wide open Hurricane forwards much to the dismay of the Hurricane parents and fans.  

Play and momentum however was not totally in the Hurricanes favor and the second period break would hopefully provide some focus to turn up the heat on the Gulls. Those birds from the Bay would not go away though and with 12 minutes remaining in the third a penalty to Morgan Messenger would be costly. But the penalty kill would respond and shut down the Gulls attempt to get back in the game. The last power play chance of the game would come the Hurricanes way. Catherine Tufts (unassisted), after intercepting a clearing pass, came off the right wing, drove the net and squeezed a shot under the arm of the Bay net minder.

Although the Hurricanes had created great chances by some hard net drives good goaltending kept the Gulls alive. The battle level and hustle of the Bay Gulls made this game closer than it appeared on the score sheet and some effort was expended in the last 30 seconds to preserve the shutout.

However hard work sometimes ends in ugly goals and you know what the say “ugly goals are like ugly babies... no one really likes them unless they are your own.”  Backstopped by some very good goaltending by our own Jake Wile you can make the final Hurricanes 3 - Bay Gulls 0. Be sure to check us out in a back to back series with the Harbour Storm in Barrington this coming weekend!