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.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team founded in 2015. They are members of the
Elite Ice Hockey League and are based at
Planet Ice in
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
.
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 known as 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 space. Pr ...
. The Storm won the First Division championship in their inaugural season, before becoming a founding member of the
Ice Hockey Superleague in 1996. The Storm won the
league championship in the
1998–99 season, before capturing the
Autumn Cup the following season. The Storm drew large crowds, breaking the British attendance record with a match against the
Sheffield Steelers during the 1996–97 season. Manchester Storm was sold to Manchester businessman Gary Cowan, who ran the team during a period of financial challenges for members of the league, until the league itself was folded, in 2002.
The
Manchester Phoenix
Manchester Phoenix were 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 M ...
were formed in 2003. They were founder members of the
Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), but moved to the
English Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
in 2009 for financial reasons. Initially playing out of the Manchester Arena, the Phoenix would eventually relocate to the
Altrincham Ice Dome.
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 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 and old rivals the
Sheffield Steelers. 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 formed Storm had signed their first two players:
Team GB defenceman
Dave Phillips and Matty Davies, who would both play in the coming season.
The Storm competed in their first match on 29 August 2015 in a friendly against the
Nottingham Panthers. The Manchester side led by then GM, Neil Russell, previously with the
Belfast Giants, 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 champions the
Peterborough Phantoms. 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 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,
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.
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 newcomer Jack Prince would also help add to the side coming straight from a four-year stint of
NCAA ice hockey 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 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 to sign for
Gap. Fellow forward
Mario Valery-Trabucco also headed to France to sign for Ligue Magnus side
Gothiques d'Amiens.
Following Trabucco out of the Storm Shelter was American defenceman Paul Phillips who moved to
Milton Keynes Lightning 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 at the end of the 2016/17 season and had previously coached the
Sheffield Steelers.
His first act was to sign former
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
er
Jay Rosehill 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 and a former
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...
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 National Ice Hockey League , NIHL National League and have previously been members of the Ice Hockey Superleague and its successor the Elite I ...
in June 2017.
Ahead of the 2017–18 season, the club confirmed a partnership with
Hull Pirates 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 minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...
side
Alaska Aces, while Swedish winger Gerard Hanson arrived from
Northern Michigan University.
On 14 July 2017, Storm coach Finnerty completed the signing of what he termed his "top target" in capturing
Matt Beca 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. Auger had first come to the attention of Finnerty while playing a solitary season (2014–15) with the
Fife Flyers. On 24 July 2017, the forward lines were completed with the acquisition of 29-year-old Canadian centre Shane Bakker from the
Atlanta Gladiators 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 on 7 August 2017. On 9 August 2017, the Storm added fellow Canadian defenceman, 22-year-old Linden Springer from
Lakehead University.
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 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 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 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. 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 brought to a premature close in 2020, with only the
Challenge Cup
The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...
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 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 previously served as an assistant coach to Ryan Finnerty, becoming the third coach in franchise history.
On 1 January 2023, Manchester Storm announced automation company Robiquity had signed on as title partners through to the end of the 2024–25 season.
In Ginn's first season behind the bench, Manchester finished the 2022–23 campaign in 6th place, collecting 48 points from 54 matches and posting a 22-28-4 record. The Storm would exit at the play-off quarter-final stage, losing their two-legged tie against the Sheffield Steelers by an aggregate score of 7–4.
In the 2023–24 season, Manchester finished in 4th position with a 27-20-7 record, good for 61 points. The Storm lost their play-off quarter-final to the
Guildford Flames and their Challenge Cup quarter-final to the
Sheffield Steelers. Manchester's performance saw Ginn named the EIHL Coach of the Year.
However, in May 2024 Ginn departed Manchester after accepting an opportunity in North America.
The club quickly moved to appoint Canadian Mike Flanagan as the Storm's new head coach. He arrived from Austrian side
EK Zeller Eisbären.
However, Flanagan was relieved of his duties as Storm head coach on 3 December 2024, with assistant coach Mike Morin taking on the role of interim head coach.
After the season, former captain Cameron Critchlow retired from playing and in May 2025 became the Storm's fifth permanent head coach in team history. Mike Morin returned to his previous role as Assistant Coach.
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 Patton Conference champions
*
2017–18
Individual
*EIHL All-Stars
''First Team'
Elite Prospects – Award – EIHL All-Star First Team*
2017–18:
Mike Hammond
*
2024–25: Alexis D'Aoust
''Second Team'
Elite Prospects – Award – EIHL All-Star Second Team*
2015–16: Paul Phillips, Mathew Sisca
*2017–18:
Luke Moffatt
*
2019–20: Matt Ginn
*
2023–24: Evan Weninger
Current squad
''Squad for 2024-25 Elite League season''
** Denotes two-way deal with
Telford Tigers
*** Denotes two-way deal with
Blackburn Hawks
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
The Manchester Arena bombing, or Manchester Arena attack, was an Islamic terrorism in Europe, Islamic terrorist suicide bombing of Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on 22 May 2017, following Dangerous Woman Tour, a concert by the Americ ...
.
Notable former players
References
External links
Official website of the Manchester Storm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester Storm (2015-)
Sport in Manchester
Ice hockey teams in England
Elite Ice Hockey League teams