TICKETS: The Go Goodwin’s Manchester Storm welcome the Coventry Blaze on Saturday 15th September, here at SilverBlades Ice Rink Altrincham, and then followed by the MK Lightning on Sunday the 16th of September! Tickets can be ordered online, by calling the box office on 0161 926 8782, or in person at the box office.

Next up for Storm

Next weekend, Storm enjoy a rare home double-header, with Patton Conference rivals Coventry Blaze (Saturday 16^th September) and Milton Keynes Lightning (Sunday 17^th September) visiting the Storm Shelter on consecutive nights.

The Blaze need to kick-start their season, with their home defeat at the hands of Storm preceded by a narrow 4-3 loss against Nottingham Panthers at the National Ice Centre. GB forward Brett Perlini was in good form with two goals as Panthers took a 4-1 lead into the final period, and although Blaze rallied to cut the gap to 4-3, Nottingham held on to start their domestic season with a win.

It was a momentous weekend for the Milton Keynes Lighting as they iced for their debut competitive matches in the Elite League.

First up for MK was a tough away trip in the Challenge Cup to last year’s league champions, Cardiff Devils. Lightning took an early lead, with the honour of the first ever MK Elite League goal going to a familiar face, former Storm defenceman Paul Phillips. However despite being out-shot 37 to 27, Cardiff rallied to win 5-2, Matt Pope rounding off the scoring into the empty net with two seconds remaining.

Sunday saw the Lightning pick up their first Elite League win, with a hard-fought 6-3 victory over the visiting Belfast Giants. Lewis Hook and Guillaume Doucet both scored twice, and Kevin King picked up a goal and two assists, as MK bagged two precious Elite League points.

Elsewhere in the Elite League

Guildford Flames also enjoyed their debut weekend in the Elite League.

Flames started their campaign with a gruelling trip to Belfast Giants, and they did so without their suspended starting netminder Brian Stewart. Former Dundee Star Mikael Lidhammer gave Guildford an early lead, but the Giants fought back to lead 5-3 after two periods, French Canadian defenceman Spiro Goulakos beating the buzzer on the power-play at 39:59 for what proved to be the game-winning goal. Both teams added a final goal in the third period as Belfast ran out 6-4 winners.

Stewart was back in goal on Sunday as Flames welcomed the Cardiff Devils to the Spectrum in the Challenge Cup. Canadian winger Ian Watters was the hero with a hat-trick as Guildford ran in eight goals past Tom Murdy in the Devils goal. Flames were never behind as the high-scoring match finished 8-4.

The Sheffield Arena crowd got great value-for-money on Sunday night as Steelers won an extraordinary Challenge Cup game 6-5 against Nottingham Panthers.

Panthers raced to a 3-0 lead after just ten minutes, but Steelers fought back and the teams entered the final period tied at 5-5. Just as it looked like the final period would end scoreless, Levi Nelson broke the tie with just one second remaining at 59:59 to win the game.

Scottish Elite Cup

It was a disappointing weekend for former Storm boss Omar Pacha as the four Scottish sides concluded their pre-season by facing-off at Murrayfield Ice Rink in the Scottish Elite Cup.

Pacha’s Dundee Stars side went down 6-2 to the Fife Flyers in the first semi-final on Saturday, before Braehead Clan won 4-2 against hosts Edinburgh Capitals.

Capitals ran out 3-0 winners in the third-place match, Russian netminder Pavel Shegalo with the shut-out for Edinburgh. In the final, Braehead won 3-1 against Fife to claim the inaugural Scottish Cup. Brendan Brooks opened the scoring for Clan before power-play goals from Landon Oslanski and Craig Peacock sealed the win. Ian Young scored a third period consolation for the Flyers.

TICKETS: The Go Goodwin’s Manchester Storm welcome the Coventry Blaze on Saturday 15th September, here at SilverBlades Ice Rink Altrincham, and then followed by the MK Lightning on Sunday the 16th of September! Tickets can be ordered online, by calling the box office on 0161 926 8782, or in person at the box office.