Manchester Storm (2015–)

Manchester Storm
City	Altrincham, England
League	Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded	2015
Home arena	Silver Blades Ice Rink
Colours	White, Purple black & yellow
Owner(s)	Mark Johnson
General manager	Neil Russell
Head coach	Omar Pacha
Captain	Matty Davies
Website	www.manchesterstorm.com

The Manchester Storm is 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)

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]	Saddle Brook, New Jersey, USA 19 December 1985	L	2015	Rungsted Cobras (Metal Ligaen)
1	Stephen Wilcock[13]	Preston, England 27 September 1985	R	2015	Blackburn Eagles (NIHL 2)

Defence ^[14]

Number	Player	Place/Date of Birth	Shoots	Acquired	Joined from
13	David Phillips[15]	Beverley, England 14 August 1987	R	2015	Belfast Giants (EIHL)
2	Omar Pacha[16]	Boucherville, Quebec, Canada 18 November 1986	L	2015	Hull Stingrays (EIHL)
42	Paul Phillips[17]	Darien, Illinois, USA 16 July 1991	L	2015	Lillehammer IK (GET-ligaen)
4	Mike Folkes[18]	Burlington, Ontario, Canada 12 February 1989	L	2015	Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
43	Ričards Birziņš[19]	Riga, Latvia 24 April 1989	R	2015	HK Prizma Riga (Latvian Hockey Higher League)
64	Paul Swindlehurst[20]	Blackrod, England 25 May 1993	L	2016	Nottingham Panthers (EIHL)

Forwards^[21]

Number	Player	Place/Date of Birth	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Joined from
26	Matty Davies[22]	Hull, England 15 February 1990	L	C	2015	Hull Stingrays (EIHL)
10	Luke Salazar[23]	Thornton, Colorado, USA 28 October 1988	R	RW/LW	2015	Asplöven HC (HockeyAllsvenskan)
23	Vinny Scarsella[24]	Lackawanna, New York, USA 23 September 1989	R	RW	2015	Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
21	Grant Toulmin[25]	Langley, British Columbia, Canada 2 March 1989	R	RW	2015	Heilbronner Falken (DEL2)
9	Matthew Paton[26]	Woodstock, Ontario, Canada 14 June 1991	L	RW	2015	Knoxville Ice Bears (SPHL)
22	Mathew Sisca[27]	Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada 30 October 1990	L	C/LW	2015	HCB South Tyrol (EBEL)
61	Jared Dickinson[28]	Salford, England 17 September 1994	R	F	2015	Altrincham Aces (NIHL 2)
81	Patrik Valcak[29]	Ostrava, Czech Republic 16 December 1984	L	C	2015	Allen Americans (ECHL)
24	Devin DiDiomete[30]	Stratford, Ontario, Canada 9 May 1988	L	LW	2015	HC ’05 Banská Bystrica (Slovak Extraliga)
14	Derek Roehl[31]	Clinton Township, Michigan, USA 20 April 1988	L	C	2016	Indy Fuel (ECHL)

Former Players

Former players ^[32]

Number	Player	Place/Date of Birth	Position	Acquired	Released
53	Igor Bobček[33]	Myjava, Slovakia 6 October 1983	D	2015	2015
20	Gal Koren[34]	Domžale, Slovenia 16 January 1992	D	2015	2015
15	Jamie Chilcott[35]	Hull, England 6 June 1993	R	2015	2015
84	Matt Caria[36]	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada 16 October 1988	C	2015	2016
17	John Murray[37]	Manchester, England 20 October 1990	C	2015	-

References

1. Ducker, James (27 October 2002). "End of an era?". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
2. MacFarlane, Nigel (11 April 2013). "Phoenix confirm 15/16 EPL spot amid home ice row". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
3. "STORM JOIN THE EIHL". Elite Ice Hockey League. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
4. "Nottingham Panthers announce pre-season friendly against Manchester Storm". Nottingham Post. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
5. "Storm begin roster with Phillips and Davies". The Bolton News. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
6. "Manchester Storm 5 Nottingham Panthers 4 (penalty shots): Match report: Storm return with win". Nottingham Post. 2015-08-29. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
7. "Phantoms 3 - 7 Manchester Storm". Peterborough Phantoms. 2015-08-30. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
8. "Manchester Storm 8 Edinburgh Capitals 1: Ice Hockey's Elite League". Manchester Evening News. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
9. "SUNDAY NIGHT REVIEW". EIHL. 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
10. "Jack Prince Joins The Storm!". Manchester Storm. 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
11. "Eliteprospects.com - Manchester Storm". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
12. "Zane Kalemba - EIHL Profile". eliteleague.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
13. "Stephen Wilcock - EIHL Profile". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
14. "Eliteprospects.com - Manchester Storm". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
15. "David Phillips - EIHL Profile". eliteleague.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
16. "Eliteprospects.com - Omar Pacha". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
17. "Eliteprospects.com - Paul Phillips". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
18. "Manchester Storm - Mike Folkes". manchesterstorm.com. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
19. "MANCHESTER STORM ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME RICARDS BIRZINSH TO THE CLUB". manchesterstorm.com. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
20. "Swindlehurst Signs For The Storm". manchesterstorm.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
21. "Eliteprospects.com - Manchester Storm". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
22. "Matthew Davies - EIHL Profile". eliteleague.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
23. "Luke Salazar - Manchester Storm". manchesterstorm.com. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
24. "Eliteprospects.com - Vinny Scarsella". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
25. "Eliteprospects.com - Grant Toulmin". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
26. "Eliteprospects.com - Matthew Paton". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
27. "Eliteprospects.com - Mathew Sisca". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
28. "Eliteprospects.com - Jared Dickinson". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
29. "Eliteprospects.com - Patrik Valcak". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
30. "DIDIOMETE JOINS STORM". http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/. Retrieved 27 October 2015. External link in |publisher= (help)
31. "Derek Roehl Signs For The Manchester Storm!". http://www.manchesterstorm.com/. Retrieved 3 February 2016. External link in |publisher= (help)
32. "Eliteprospects.com - Manchester Storm". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
33. "MANCHESTER STORM ARE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME RICARDS BIRZINSH TO THE CLUB". manchesterstorm.com. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
34. "Eliteprospects.com - Gal Koren". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
35. "Eliteprospects.com - Jamie Chilcott". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
36. "Eliteprospects.com - Matt Caria". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
37. "Eliteprospects.com - John Murray". Eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 7 August 2015.

External links

• Official website of the Manchester Storm