With their 4-3 victory over the visiting Thunderbirds of Carolina, the boys from my ol’ hometown of Binghamton, New York, claimed the Commissioner’s Cup Friday night, champions of the Federal Prospects Hockey League for the first time. Only in their third year of play, the Black Bears have brought Binghamton its first hockey title since 2011 when the Binghamton Senators hoisted the AHL’s Calder Cup.

I still lived in Binghamton then and I cared about it a lot more than I do now, but it’s still a pretty nice thought, no? I’m happy that my family and I were able to attend a game last year at “the Arena,” the hockey venue of my youth whose rafters will now contain one more banner. Unlike the 2011 championship (which the B-Sens won on the road in Houston), this one was secured on home ice, and, well, I imagine it’s been pretty sloppy on State Street for a couple days.

Congrats, Black Bears; you made this Binghamtonian proud.

And they say Binghamton’s never in the news for anything good.