A win may not have been had, but it was still an emotional game that had it all
Back in 2002, Manchester was on a bit of a high. The city had just come off of hosting the celebratory Commonwealth Games, the Urbis had just opened and, quite remarkably at the time, Oasis hadn’t yet broken up.
But 24 years ago, that year did mark the disbanding of one of the city’s finest exports: Manchester Storm. For seven glorious years, the ice hockey club had played to thousands at the now AO Arena. And their split in 2002 had seemed somewhat final to most fans.
Yet there was no keeping the storm down, and the club was later revived in 2015 at Planet Ice Altrincham. Since then, they have gone from strength-to-strength and, in April, also reached the play-off finals for the first time since relocating.
Click here for the latest on Manchester’s food & drink scene, gigs and more in our CityLife newsletter
Earlier this year, it was announced that Storm would be heading back to where it all began and Sunday (September 6) marked their big homecoming return to the city in a pre-season match against Sheffield Steelers. It was a game that had it all – even if a win ultimately was not on the cards.
I remember going to see Storm play at the arena as a kid with my family. I recalled earlier this year how it was my first time seeing a match of such scope, and it had me hooked from the get-go as the fanfare took over the atmosphere. Seeing them in the arena again today instantly transformed me back to that time period – and it made me quite emotional, actually.
Bringing my nephew along for the ride for his ice hockey game, it was a special moment for us both as we relished in the pucks flying in the air, the wrestles of aggression from the players and the tension that carried over from the ice into the audience.
We were invited along to the match with Premium Tickets, which for us included The Mezz Bar Entrance and a chance to arrive early to order some food. For us, this consisted of a delicious roast topside of beef, with maple vegetables, roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding, followed by sticky toffee pudding. It came with the comfort of being able to roll right into our nearby seats after and also gives you the opportunity to pop into the bar again during the interval for extra drinks with minimal queues, which was certainly handy. That package starts from £47.95 each.
Getting into our seats, we had a perfect view of all the action – right by the goal manned in the first period by Storm’s goalie Drew DeRidder. For the first period and even within minutes, it was absolute scenes with fights and then the first goal coming from Storm’s Anton Karlsson.
The pandemonium of people cheering was absolutely fantastic as we all chanted ‘Let’s Go Storm’ in the face of playful boos from the Steelers supporters. Goals from Tim McGauley and JD Dudek quickly followed for a very triumphant start to proceedings from Storm – riding the momentum and support of the huge crowd.
And the crowd had certainly turned up to back Storm. Before the match, it had been announced that the club were on track to record the highest attendance for a game between two Motorpoint Elite League teams in history. And with barely any spare seats in my eyesight, I’d say they more than likely achieved that.
The second period started to get a little rocky for Storm as they perhaps were riding on the coattails of that initial hype, but it managed to include a goal from Storm’s Brady Gilmour. However, Steelers were able to close the gap with a 4-3 score to Storm at the end of period two, which was cut slightly short due to issues with the ice.
Period three saw another goal for Storm from Connor Lee, as well as some penalties thrown out for boarding and fighting as things got tense on the ice. With the Steelers picking up further momentum, the end of the match went into a penalty shootout with a score of 5-5.
As the penalty shootout proved to add any further goals to proceedings, the intensity of the match carried on through into sudden death before Mitchell Balmas won it for the Steelers.
Whilst it wasn’t the homecoming result Storm fans had wanted, it was a match that truly had it all – and the team truly did throw everything at it. Their strength and determination does bode well for what’s to come and I’m very excited to see how their first season at the AO Arena pans out.
The atmosphere of the whole game was electric: the chants, the rallies, the near misses and the scores were all just infectious and it was so delightful to see Storm back where I had initially seen them and in their element again.
Of course, it’s essential to remember everything Altrincham has done for them but it feels so good to see them back in a major arena level where they can really have tens of thousands of people root behind them.
Storm are back in the city – and it feels about time.
Manchester Storm have games at the AO Arena through to March 2027, with full fixtures and ticket information available via their website. Info is also available via the AO Arena website.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login