Manchester Storm

Manchester Storm
Manchester Storm
City	Altrincham, England
League	Elite Ice Hockey League
Founded	2015
Home arena	Planet Ice Altrincham
Owner(s)	Mark Johnson
Franchise history
1995–2002	Manchester Storm

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The Manchester Storm is a British professional ice hockey team founded in 2015. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League, and be based at Altrincham Ice Dome. The name is a reference to the original Manchester Storm, who played from 1995 to 2002.

History

The original Manchester Storm team were founded in 1995 as a tenant 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, and this team was known as Manchester Storm.^[3]

Season-by-season records

Season	Regular Season						Play Offs	Challenge Cup	Head Coach
Season	Finish	Played	Wins	Losses	OT Losses	Points	Play Offs	Challenge Cup	Head Coach
Manchester Storm
2015–16	9th	52	20	28	4	44	Did not qualify	Group Stage	Omar Pacha
2016–17	8th	52	18	26	8	44	Quarter-finals	Group Stage	Omar Pacha
2017–18	2nd	56	35	16	5	75	Quarter-finals	Group Stage	Ryan Finnerty
2018–19	9th	60	27	28	5	59	Did not qualify	Quarter-finals	Ryan Finnerty
2019–20^†	8th	49	18	26	5	41	Cancelled	Quarter-finals	Ryan Finnerty
2020–21^††	N/A	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Ryan Finnerty
2021–22	9th	54	18	32	4	40	Did not qualify	Group Stage	Ryan Finnerty
2022–23	6th	54	22	28	4	48	Quarter-finals	Group Stage	Matt Ginn
2023–24	4th	54	27	20	7	61	Quarter-finals	Quarter-finals	Matt Ginn

^† 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.^[4]

^†† 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.^[5] The season was cancelled completely in February 2021.^[6] 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.^[7]