HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Manchester Storm are a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
professional
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team founded in 2015. They are members of the
Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...
and are based at
Planet Ice A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...
in
Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
.


History

The original Manchester Storm team were founded in 1995 and were owned by the operators of the newly-opened
Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...
. The Storm won the First Division championship in their inaugural season, before becoming a founding member of the
Ice Hockey Superleague The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...
in 1996. The Storm won the league championship in the 1998–99 season, before capturing the
Autumn Cup The Autumn Cup was an ice hockey competition in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 2000. The competition was originally divided into English and Scottish competitions, known as the English Autumn Cup and the Scottish Autumn Cup between 1946 and 195 ...
the following season. The Storm drew many large crowds, breaking the British attendance record for a match against the
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...
during the 1996–97 season. Manchester Storm was sold to Manchester businessman Gary Cowan who against all odds kept the team going until the league itself was closed following Sky Tv pulling out from its obligation to show live games. The original Storm were forced to close in 2002 after financial problems, along with other members of the league. The
Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix was a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to Ma ...
were formed in 2003. They were founder members of the
Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...
(EIHL), but moved to the
English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
in 2009 due to financial reasons. Initially playing out of the Manchester Arena, the Phoenix would eventually relocate to the
Altrincham Ice Dome Altrincham Ice Dome is an ice rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It has 2,140 seats according to the rink website, and up to 300 standing places. The Ice Dome hosts the home matches of the Manchester Storm (2015–), Ma ...
. At the end of the 2014–15 season, a legal dispute arose between the management of the Altrincham Ice Dome and the Phoenix team over alleged financial impropriety regarding junior teams at the venue. Around the same time, the
Hull Stingrays Hull Stingrays were a British ice hockey club from Kingston upon Hull who was a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League from 2003 until 2015. They played their home games at Hull Arena. The Stingrays replaced previous clubs Humberside Seahawks ( ...
of the Elite Ice Hockey League withdrew from the EIHL. The management of the Altrincham Ice Dome and the EIHL subsequently reached an agreement to place a team in Altrincham to fill the gap created by Hull's liquidation. This team was to be the new Manchester Storm.


First season (2015–16)

On 26 June 2015, the Storm announced their first two pre-season games against the
Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...
and old rivals the
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...
. Owner Mark Johnson posted via Twitter saying fans wearing original jerseys to the matches from the previous Manchester Storm team would be rewarded with something to take home. On the same day it was made public that the newly-reformed Storm had signed their first two players:
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
defenceman Dave Phillips and Matty Davies, who would both play in the coming season. The Storm competed in their first match in over 13 years on 29 August 2015 in a friendly against the
Nottingham Panthers The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society. The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...
. The Manchester side led by then GM, Neil Russell, previously with the
Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cham ...
, came away victors with a 5–4 win after a penalty shootout with the first goal scored by the newly-formed side coming from forward Vinny Scarsella. Despite the side taking a win, behind the scenes the Storm had yet to recruit a full team and were plagued with other issues such as waiting on signed imports to arrive in the UK as well as visas to be approved. The following evening the Storm played away in another friendly against the 2014–15
EPIHL The English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) was an ice hockey league of 10 teams, all of which were based in England. Headquartered in Blackpool, the EPIHL was one of two professional ice hockey leagues in the United Kingdom (the other being th ...
champions the
Peterborough Phantoms The Peterborough Phantoms are a British ice hockey team that play at the Planet Ice Peterborough Arena, in Bretton, Peterborough. The Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey club was founded in 2002. It replaced the former city based team, the Pet ...
. The Storm won again with a 7–3 victory with four goals coming from Manchester Storm forward Vinny Scarsella. The first competitive league match took place on Saturday 5 September 2015. The Storm hosted Scottish side the
Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apri ...
. The game ended with the Storm winning 8–1 including a hat-trick by Luke Salazar. On Sunday 7 February 2016, the Storm set a league record in an away league match against the Edinburgh Capitals. The game ended in a 13–9 win for the Manchester side making it the highest scoring league game on record. During the course of the season several players such as
Gal Koren Gal Koren (born January 16, 1992) is a retired Slovenian professional ice hockey player. Koren competed at the 2013 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Slovenia men's national ice hockey team The Slovenia men's national ice hockey team ...
, Jamie Chilcott and Matt Caria departed from Manchester due to varying reasons. This, however, led to the signings of players such as Devin DiDiomete, locally-born Paul Swindlehurst and Derek Roehl who would all help bring a different dynamic to the team as opposed to player-coach Omar Pacha's idea of a squad built on speed. The Storm narrowly missed out on making the 2015–2016 playoffs finishing 9th in the league above last-placed
Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apri ...
.


Second season (2016–17)

The Manchester-side announced two signings following the end of the regular season: player-coach Omar Pacha re-signed for the following 2016–17 season and
Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
newcomer Jack Prince would also help add to the side coming straight from a four-year-stint of
NCAA ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...
for the University of Alabama–Huntsville. Returning players included defensemen Paul Phillips and Paul Swindlehurst along with forward Patrik Valcak. The club made the play-offs for the first time since their formation finishing in 8th but coach Omar Pacha would leave at the end of the 2016–17 season, later replacing Marc Lefebvre as
Dundee Stars The Dundee Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in the Scottish city of Dundee. They were formed in 2001 and play their home games at the Dundee Ice Arena, situated off the city's main Kingsway dual carriageway. The current title sp ...
head coach in July 2017. Following Pacha in leaving the club in the summer of 2017 were Adam Harding and Taylor Dickin, who both joined the Dundee Stars – though both moved to Tayside before Pacha was appointed coach. Elsewhere, Mark Heatley also left soon after the season's end, while Cody Cartier moved to the
Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champion ...
to sign for Gap. Fellow forward
Mario Valery-Trabucco Mario Valery-Trabucco (born February 19, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He currently plays for the Hannover Scorpions in the German Oberliga. Trabucco graduated from Union College in 2010, and went on to play in two game ...
also headed to France to sign for Ligue Magnus side
Gothiques d'Amiens Hockey Club Amiens Somme is a French ice hockey team based in Amiens playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team is also known as "Gothiques d'Amiens" (Amiens Gothics). The team was founded in 1967 and plays home games at the Coliséum. They have twice ...
. Following Trabucco out of the Storm Shelter was American defenceman Paul Phillips who moved to
Milton Keynes Lightning The Milton Keynes Lightning are an ice hockey team founded in 2002 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The Lightning currently play in Britain's second-tier professional league, the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL), since the 2019–20 season. T ...
after two years in Manchester, while forward Jack Prince announced his retirement after a season with the Storm. Fellow defenceman Connor Varley also moved to France to sign for Gamyo d'Épinal.


Third season (2017–18)

The club parted company with player/coach Omar Pacha after two years in the role. Following a takeover by a group led by businessmen Jamie Tunstall and Gordon Greig, the club appointed Ryan Finnerty as their new coach in May 2017. Finnerty had departed
Braehead Clan Glasgow Clan (formerly ''Braehead Clan'') is a Scotland, Scottish professional ice hockey team. It was formed in 2010 as the UK Elite Ice Hockey League expanded into the west of Scotland market, and are based at the Braehead Arena in Renfrewshir ...
at the end of the 2016/17 season and had previously coached the
Sheffield Steelers The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...
. His first act was to sign former
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
er
Jay Rosehill Jay Rosehill (born July 16, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Manchester Storm of the Elite Ice Hockey L ...
who followed Finnerty to Manchester from Braehead. The signings continued as defenceman Dallas Ehrhardt and netminder Mike Clemente committed for a second season, before news that the Storm had signed former NHL forward
Dane Byers Dane Byers (born February 21, 1986) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for and captained Manchester Storm of the UK's EIHL. He was originally drafted by the New York Rangers 48th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draf ...
and a former
Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
draft pick in forward Luke Moffatt. Recruitment continued with the signing of young English defenceman Declan Balmer and forward Ciaran Long, both from
Basingstoke Bison The Basingstoke Bison are an English Ice Hockey club from Basingstoke. They currently compete in the NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite Ice Hockey League. History ...
in June 2017. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, the club confirmed a partnership with
Hull Pirates The Hull Seahawks are an ice hockey team based in Kingston upon Hull and their home ice is the Hull Arena. They compete in the NIHL National Division. Formation The Hull Pirates were formed when the Hull Stingrays went into liquidation in Ju ...
to enable U23 players from the Pirates to step up to Elite League level on two-way contracts. The first player to sign was goaltender Ashley Smith who arrived as the back-up to Mike Clemente on 21 June 2017. Finnerty continued his recruitment drive by re-signing centre Matt Bissonnette for a second season and then by capturing Canadian forward Mike Hammond from Braehead Clan on 26 June 2017. Then, on 30 June 2017, Manchester strengthened their defensive corps with the arrival of American defenceman Ryan Trenz from
ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...
side Alaska Aces, while Swedish winger Gerard Hanson arrived from
Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...
. On 14 July 2017, Storm coach Finnerty completed the signing of what he termed his "top target" in capturing
Matt Beca Matt Beca (born March 6, 1986) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for Glasgow Clan of the EIHL, where he was player/assistant coach. He previously played for fellow Elite League side Manchester Storm and Rote Te ...
from his former side Braehead Clan. Beca joined former Clan teammates Rosehill and Hammond at the Storm Shelter after putting up 83 points in 62 league and cup games during the 2016/17 season. Five days later, the Storm made their 15th signing ahead of the new season with the arrival of 29-year-old Canadian centre Chris Auger from ECHL side
Brampton Beast The Brampton Beast were a professional ice hockey team based in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The team originally played in the Central Hockey League for one year during the 2013–14 season prior to the league's folding before joining the ECHL f ...
. Auger had first come to the attention of Finnerty while playing a solitary season (2014–15) with the
Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011. ...
. On 24 July 2017, the forward lines were completed with the acquisition of 29-year-old Canadian centre Shane Bakker from the
Atlanta Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast of ...
of the ECHL. The Storm added to their defensive unit with the acquisition of 27-year-old Canadian Matt Stanisz from ECHL side
Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. On ...
on 7 August 2017. On 9 August 2017, the Storm added fellow Canadian defenceman, 22-year-old Linden Springer from
Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...
. On 11 August 2017, Manchester completed their roster with the signing of 28-year-old Canadian defenceman/centre Nate Fleming. Despite Fleming sitting out the 2016/17 season, Storm coach Finnerty was pleased to sign the former
Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apri ...
defenceman. After an injury to centre Chris Auger that ruled the Canadian out of action for the foreseeable future in October 2017, Finnerty snapped up Canadian centre Scott Pitt from MsHK Zilina, reuniting him with his former coach and three former Braehead Clan teammates. Pitt had played under Finnerty at Braehead for three seasons. The first game of the season saw Storm lose on the road to Finnerty's formed club, before they got their revenge in the return fixture the following night. From there, things continued to build for Storm and for the first two months of the season remained in the top three places in the league. Whilst the club's fortunes in the Challenge Cup didn't favour as well as those in the league, the momentum was building. Storm suffered a few defeats throughout December and January and with other teams catching up with fixtures saw themselves slowly drop down the table to seventh place, however the Storm's home record continued to do the club proud. The end of January saw Storm start a run of ten games unbeaten, including the first league win against the Sheffield Steelers since reforming, which helped to move the club back up the table. On 18 February, with over a month of the regular season remaining, Storm clinched their spot in the playoffs. As the results began to mount in Storm's favour, so did the attendances. By the end of the season Storm had sold out more games than the previous two seasons combined, including the final five games of the season. Storm ended the season in the runners up position, behind the
Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...
who retained their title, and winners of the newly created Patton Conference. The playoffs were a disappointment, with a stunning 4-1 victory away at the
Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011. ...
followed by a disappointing 1-4 home defeat the following evening, with the Flyers securing the victory in overtime.


Fourth season (2018–19)

After so much success in the previous season, it was a difficult year for the Storm, starting in the summer with the departures of some of the key members of the squad. Matt Beca and Scott Pitt returned to Glasgow, while Matt Stanisz and Gerard Hanson followed them, and Paul Swindlehurst departed to join the
Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) and are the current cham ...
. One of the biggest losses came after netminder Mike Clemente retired after two seasons. Clemente was a fan favourite and proved to be one of the best goaltenders in the league. Matt Ginn did a stellar job coming into the squad to replace him, ending the year with a 90.9% save percentage, the fourth most among regular goaltenders across the league. In just his second year in the league, British forward Ciaran Long had one of the greatest recent seasons of any domestic player in the league. Following up his debut season where he posted 35 points, Long almost doubled his production, ending the year with 60 points in as many games. While the team may have been towards the bottom of the standings, Mike Hammond was again Manchester's best player, with a league leading 57 assists alongside 18 goals. Captain Dane Byers put in a true "lead by example" season, leading the team with 29 goals while also racking up a league high 182 penalty minutes. Things didn't get off to the best start, with Storm picking up just four wins in their opening ten games, and these struggles continued throughout the campaign. At the turn of the New Year there was some hope as the Storm looked to mount a climb up the table, picking up five straight wins in January, but a string of up and down performances for the rest of the campaign saw them as the final team eliminated from playoff contention in the final weekend of the regular season, despite having the third best home ice record in the league. Penalty trouble saw the Storm suffer, with four players ending the year with over 100 penalty minutes as Harrison Ruopp, Shane Bakker, Linden Springer and Dane Byers combined for just shy of 600 penalty minutes.


Recent years (2019–)

The Covid-19 pandemic saw the
2019–20 EIHL season The 2019–20 EIHL season was the 17th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 7 September 2019 and was due to end on 29 March 2020, with the playoffs following in April 2020. The reigning league champions were the B ...
brought to a premature close in 2020, with only the
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
seeing a winner crowned, following Sheffield's victory over Cardiff in the final. The 2020–21 EIHL season was cancelled completely due to ongoing social distancing restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, but Manchester were named as one of four English EIHL sides taking part in the 2021 'Elite Series' between April and May 2021. The
2021–22 EIHL season The 2021–22 EIHL season was the 18th season of the Elite Ice Hockey League. The regular season commenced on 25 September 2021, and finished on 17 April 2022, with the playoffs taking place over the following two weekends. The previous campaign in ...
went ahead as scheduled, with the Belfast Giants winning their fifth league title. Manchester missed the play-offs following a 9th place finish. In April 2022 following the conclusion of the season, head coach Ryan Finnerty stood down after five years in charge to focus solely on his responsibilities as General Manager. In May 2022, Manchester confirmed the appointment of Matt Ginn as the team's head coach on a two-year deal beginning from the 2022–23 Elite League season. Ginn, the Storm's former starting netminder, retired from playing to take up the role having also served as an assistant coach to Ryan Finnerty, becoming the third coach in franchise history.


Season-by-season records

Note: the 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. The table shows the standings at the point of cancellation. No champion was crowned and the play-offs were also cancelled. †† Note: the 2020–21 Elite League season - originally scheduled for a revised start date of 5 December - was suspended on 15 September 2020, because of ongoing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The EIHL board determined that the season was non-viable without supporters being permitted to attend matches and unanimously agreed to a suspension. The season was cancelled completely in February 2021. Manchester were later announced as one of four Elite League teams taking part in the 'Elite Series' between April–May 2021, a total of 24 games culminating in a best-of-three play-off final series.


Honours

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...
Patton Conference champions * 2017–18 Individual *EIHL All-Stars ''First Team'

*2017–18: Mike Hammond (ice hockey), Mike Hammond ''Second Team'

* 2015–16 EIHL season, 2015–16: Paul Phillips, Mathew Sisca *2017–18: Luke Moffatt * 2019–20: Matt Ginn


Current squad

''Squad for 2022-23 Elite League season'' ** Denotes two-way deal with
Bristol Pitbulls The Bristol Pitbulls are an ice hockey team representing Bristol, England, currently playing in the NIHL National League. Following the closure of the Bristol ice rink in 2012, their home ice moved to Oxford Ice Rink. In October 2021, the team ...
*** Denotes two-way deal with
Hull Seahawks The Hull Seahawks are an ice hockey team based in Kingston upon Hull and their home ice is the Hull Arena. They compete in the NIHL National Division. Formation The Hull Pirates were formed when the Hull Stingrays went into liquidation in Ju ...
**** Denotes two-way deal with
Blackburn Hawks The Blackburn Hawks (formerly known as the Blackhawks and the Lancashire Hawks) are a British ice hockey team based in Blackburn, Lancashire. They are currently members of the EIHA Moralee Conference (NIHL N1), and have previously played in the ...


Retired numbers

The club has retired three shirt numbers. Brad Rubachuk's number 41 was originally retired in September 1999, and the honour was repeated, following the relaunch of the team, in February 2017. This was followed by Mike Morin's number 15 which was retired in November 2017. In addition, the club announced in May 2018 that it would be retiring the number 22 shirt in honour of the victims of the
Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...
.


Notable former players


References


External links


Official website of the Manchester Storm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester Storm (2015-) Sport in Manchester Ice hockey teams in England