Manchester Storm (2015–)

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This article is about the Manchester ice hockey team founded in 2015. For the earlier team, see Manchester Storm (1995–2002).
Manchester Storm
230x400px
City Altrincham, England
League Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded 2015
Home arena Silver Blades Ice Rink
Colours White, Purple black & yellow                         
Owner(s) England Mark Johnson
General manager Northern Ireland Neil Russell
Head coach Canada Omar Pacha
Captain England Matty Davies
Website www.manchesterstorm.com

The Manchester Storm are a British, professional ice hockey team founded in 2015. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League and are based at the Silver Blades Ice Rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.

History

The original Manchester Storm team were founded in 1995 and were owned by the operators of the newly-opened Manchester Arena. 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 many large crowds, breaking the British attendance record for a match against the Sheffield Steelers during the 1996–97 season.[1] The original Storm were forced to close in 2002 after financial problems.

The Manchester Phoenix were formed in 2003. They were founder members of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), but moved to the English Premier League in 2009 due to 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.[2] 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 newly-reformed Manchester Storm.[3]

First Season (2015–16)

File:Manchester Storm v Nottingham Panthers.jpg
The side lining up facing the Nottingham Panthers for the national anthem during the Storm's first competitive match in 13 years.

On 26 June 2015, the Storm announced their first two pre-season games against the Nottingham Panthers[4] 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-reformed Storm had signed their first two players: Team GB defenceman Dave Phillips and Matty Davies, who would both play in the coming season.[5]

The Storm competed in their first match in over 13 years on 29 August 2015 in a friendly against the Nottingham Panthers. The Manchester side led by 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

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. During the closing weeks of the season the Coventry Blaze managed to secure 8th place after a string of wins pushing them clear of a Storm comeback. The Blaze proceeded to the playoffs after winning the competition the previous season only to lose 2–0 to the Nottingham Panthers in the final.

The Manchester-side announced two signings following the end of the regular season: player-coach Omar Pacha resigned for the following 2016–17 season and Team GB new-comer 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.[10]

Current roster

Netminders [11]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Catches Acquired Joined from
40 Zane Kalemba[12] United States Saddle Brook, New Jersey, USA
(1985-12-19) 19 December 1985 (age 38)		 L 2015 Rungsted Cobras (Metal Ligaen)
1 Stephen Wilcock[13] England Preston, England
(1985-09-27) 27 September 1985 (age 38)		 R 2015 Blackburn Eagles (NIHL 2)
Defence [14]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Shoots Acquired Joined from
13 David Phillips[15] England Beverley, England
(1987-08-14) 14 August 1987 (age 36)		 R 2015 Belfast Giants (EIHL)
2 Omar Pacha[16] Canada Boucherville, Quebec, Canada
(1986-11-18) 18 November 1986 (age 37)		 L 2015 Hull Stingrays (EIHL)
42 Paul Phillips[17] United States Darien, Illinois, USA
(1991-07-16) 16 July 1991 (age 32)		 L 2015 Lillehammer IK (GET-ligaen)
4 Mike Folkes[18] Canada Burlington, Ontario, Canada
(1989-02-12) 12 February 1989 (age 35)		 L 2015 Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
43 Ričards Birziņš[19] Latvia Riga, Latvia
(1989-04-24) 24 April 1989 (age 35)		 R 2015 HK Prizma Riga (Latvian Hockey Higher League)
64 Paul Swindlehurst[20] England Blackrod, England
(1993-05-25) 25 May 1993 (age 31)		 L 2016 Nottingham Panthers (EIHL)
Forwards[21]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Shoots Position Acquired Joined from
26 Matty Davies[22] England Hull, England
(1990-02-15) 15 February 1990 (age 34)		 L C 2015 Hull Stingrays (EIHL)
10 Luke Salazar[23] United States Thornton, Colorado, USA
(1988-10-28) 28 October 1988 (age 35)		 R RW/LW 2015 Asplöven HC (HockeyAllsvenskan)
21 Grant Toulmin[24] Canada Langley, British Columbia, Canada
(1989-03-02) 2 March 1989 (age 35)		 R RW 2015 Heilbronner Falken (DEL2)
9 Matthew Paton[25] Canada Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
(1991-06-14) 14 June 1991 (age 33)		 L RW 2015 Knoxville Ice Bears (SPHL)
22 Mathew Sisca[26] Canada Italy Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada
(1990-10-30) 30 October 1990 (age 33)		 L C/LW 2015 HCB South Tyrol (EBEL)
61 Jared Dickinson[27] England Salford, England
(1994-09-17) 17 September 1994 (age 29)		 R F 2015 Altrincham Aces (NIHL 2)
81 Patrik Valcak[28] Czech Republic Ostrava, Czech Republic
(1984-12-16) 16 December 1984 (age 39)		 L C 2015 Allen Americans (ECHL)
24 Devin DiDiomete[29] Canada Italy Stratford, Ontario, Canada
(1988-05-09) 9 May 1988 (age 36)		 L LW 2015 HC ’05 Banská Bystrica (Slovak Extraliga)
14 Derek Roehl[30] United States Italy Clinton Township, Michigan, USA
(1988-04-20) 20 April 1988 (age 36)		 L C 2016 Indy Fuel (ECHL)

Former Players

Former players [31]
Number Player Place/Date of Birth Position Acquired Released
53 Igor Bobček[32] Slovakia Myjava, Slovakia
(1983-10-06) 6 October 1983 (age 40)		 D 2015 2015
20 Gal Koren[33] SloveniaCroatia Domžale, Slovenia
(1992-01-16) 16 January 1992 (age 32)		 D 2015 2015
15 Jamie Chilcott[34] England Hull, England
(1993-06-06) 6 June 1993 (age 31)		 R 2015 2015
84 Matt Caria[35] Canada Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
(1988-10-16) 16 October 1988 (age 35)		 C 2015 2016
17 John Murray[36] England Manchester, England
(1990-10-20) 20 October 1990 (age 33)		 C 2015 -
23 Vinny Scarsella[37] United States Lackawanna, New York, USA
(1989-09-23) 23 September 1989 (age 34)		 R 2015 2016

References

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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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