A very warm welcome to this week's edition of Hockey Night in Manchester and with a
recent run of poor results the Manchester Storm will be looking to get back to winning
ways as they play host to the visiting Edinburgh Capitals. Let's bring you the
best of the action with your commentary team of Dallas Earhart and Stephen
Packer. And here we go the Manchester Storm win the opening draw tonight and
already I can see some changes in the line up there on the front on the forward
line. Buyers out there with Becker and Moffitt. Here is Becker. It's like sticks
just out there so a few changes in the lines in training stuff this week Dallas.
Yeah he want to switch it up and sometimes the lines just aren't clicking
so that's what you got to do put a couple new faces together and then kind of
gets the guys fired up and ready to go. So I can see Borobi out there who you
mentioned just now. He really impressed me last year. It's such a you can tell
that he's the next first round pick in the NHL such a smooth skater and
everything looked effortless from him. Yeah he's one of those guys that is it's
not flashy but it's just smart and hard to play against so he's a tough tough
task. And he wins the draw for the Caps as they make their first attack of the
evening. Looking to feed it across to Tislukovic. Fired in. There is Borobi out
there for the backhand and Mike Clemente manages to smother that one.
Dangerous opportunity there for the Caps of unpredictable backhands. Yeah it's
always one of the hardest harder shots to save as a backhand because the goal he
isn't too sure where it's gonna go. It's funny I asked Chris OJ a few weeks
about why that is so I didn't realize he just said it's the shape of the stick
you've got that curve. Even the player doesn't even know where it's really
going. Yeah it doesn't really matter how good you are but when you're shooting
it that way it has a little mind of a zone sometimes. So offensive draw here
for the Caps looking to get a bit of early pressure as Anderson is throwing out
of the circle. Kozola steps up. It's out there with Tyler Plews got support from
Travdon as well. Here's Swindlerhurst a GB international across to the Swede
Hansen. Hansen looks to clear his zone as it's turned over in the neutral ice.
Storm regain possession though. Swindlerhurst across to Ryan Trent. Trent gains a
blue line. Looking for a pass through the neutral zone. Hansen picks it up. Looking
to feed Hammond the leading point scorer for the Manchester Storm this season so
far. Here is Anderson. Anderson banks it off the
board. Chase down by Travdon. Trent loses out. The Storm managed to clear their
zone at the second attempt with Scott Pitt. It's offside for the Manchester
Storm. It's won by Scott Pitt. Dallas, sorry Dallas you're up here. Swindlerhurst fires
it in. Good play by Pitt along the board. Picked up by Hammond. Well done by
Hansen. A bit of pace here on a break for the Capitals. Got three men up on the
attack. Looks to put a shot in. Good stick there by the Storm defenceman. Big
hit behind the net. Possible break. Hammond has got support if he needs it.
Hammond fires it across. And it's put in the back of the net by Hansen. You can see
the break coming there as Hammond just came down on the near side. He had
support from Hansen. He's just fed it across by the looks of it.
I think that went in off of Hansen. I think Hansen is going to get credit for
that one Dallas. Yeah I think it was a nice play. Hammy holding on to it long
enough to get the goalie out and Hansen was able to put it back in. Looks like the
goalie wasn't too happy. Possibly looking for a kick. I didn't see anything
there but he was objecting to something.
Storm wind draw. Fleming on the de-spot there in your spot Dallas. Yeah it's
nice having a utility man like Fleming that can basically do it all and do it
all really well. So he's back there and I think he's actually
going to be a guy you want to look for tonight. He could have a big night
tonight. When Storm were building their roster it was a very
interesting sign-in as that extra input. You sort of knew from that point on we
meant business this year. Yeah anytime you can do that you're kind of
saying that we're not going to let some little injuries or little things get
guessed behind so having him there and having a guy like him who can just do it
all is huge for a team.
There's the Edward Capitals look to get themselves level as quickly as they can.
It's a turnover though as Fleming, the man we were just discussing, picks it up with
a bit of pace. Fires the look in. Possibly icing call here I think. No it took a tip.
There's Vorobyev. Scruffy in front but here is Vorobyev.
Fired around the boards. Chased down by Vorobyev. One of the few names I can
say. Moffit feeds it across to Byers. Byers loses out as he's got pressure from
Durazio. The storm out in front. Dangerous pass out in front. Stannis just cannot
quite keep the puck in as the storm have to reset. Good pick pocket there by Byers.
Managed to feed Bakers with support from Moffit if he needs it. Pinned up in the
boards. Possible break though. Here's Trovdon. Feeds it to Teslukovic to
Trovdon. Trovdon fires it on the side netting. Here is Teslukovic. Managed to
find his man out in front. Valiyev. Edinburgh capital circling around the
net. Fired out in front. Dangerously poking around. Good padded away there by
Mike Clemente. Trovdon feeds it to Kozola. Good old. It's a goal for the
Caps. The Caps get the leveler. And it is that man coming back from injury.
Sergai banished off. Just finds the top shelf there Dallas. Yeah it was a bit of a
breakdown. Guys need to get the puck out and it was good on Edinburgh staying
with it and forcing some plays and they got the bounce because of it. Good
character shown by the Edinburgh Caps to come straight back in it and what must
have been a really hard few months for them. Coach Finiti be happy what he's
seeing from his new line setup. A few adjustments you'll make. I think he'll be
happy you know they're they're working hard and getting some pucks to the net
but I still feel like through the neutral zone we're a little bit loose
there and that's something he's gonna want to tie it up for going forward. You
said in the post game last week that he was happy with his team five on five it
was the special teams he was really let down by. Yeah as part of the game now is
kind of you go as your special team does and sometimes it's just not gonna click
for a little bit and you just need some new bodies out there. It's stormed with a
bit of offensive pressure. Becker turns on the halfboards cleared by the capitals
stick down by Trovdon. Great stick there. Here is Trovdon. Feeds. Kozola. Kozola
feeds it across. He's looking for Anderson.
Good stick there by the Caps netminder. Becker he finds the back of the net.
Loose puck comes out in front and it finds possibly the one man on the storm team
you don't want it to find Alice. Oh that was just a nice play Mark pulling on to
it making a nice dish out. Becker coming in and he made no mistake.
Yeah just beats the Caps goalie glove side. As the Manchester storm regained
that lead. 9-21 to go in the first period. Walking the blue line fires it
just wide as the referee skates get in the way. Caps still got possession though.
Lawrence chasing it down. Big hit by Becker in the corner boards. Caps doing
well to keep possession though. Anderson takes the tumble. Here's Rosehill.
Good play by Rosehill. A really strong play by Rosehill and he's taken down by
the Caps. Rosehill's not happy with that. I don't think he was quite broken free
enough for a penalty shot but huge strength there by J Rosehill Dallas. Yeah
that was definitely a big man Harky you know again his body in the way and then
taking it to the net. It was up against the newer Caps. Mekita Collin of
Nick Scruff. So we're underway here in the storm shelter. Storm winning the draw.
Here's Ryan Trentz feeding it across to Scott Pitt. Scott Pitt chips it to Byers.
He looks to chase down his own dumping net. Storm keeping the possession down in
the offensive zone. Here is Scott Pitt. A bit of pace behind the net behind
Cheggaloo's goal. Bouncing around a little bit today on the power plate.
Here's Becker. Looks to feed out Scott Pitt. Cheggaloo does well to freeze that.
Dangerous skates up there. Look at the goal. He's got a full face mask on there.
Just for those at home. How sharp are your skates? Depending on the guy but
they're definitely well they're sharp enough to cut the ice in pretty tight
corners so they're very very sharp skates that can they can they can cut
you up if you get too bad. So once again Storm win the draw on the
power plate but it's whistled down. That's interesting you say it depends on the
guy so different skating style it depends on how sharp it's somebody have
these skates. Yeah some guys it's all personal preference. Some guys like more
of an edge. Some guys like a little bit less and especially for the bigger guys
normally go for not as sharp just because they already got so much weight
on it so they don't just need as much of an edge on it. So Storm win the draw
Hansen is pinned up by Vorivia. Here's Stannis. Stannis it feeds across the
Moffitt. Moffitt feeds it down low. Here is Moffitt once again. Moffitt across the
blue line and it's fired in but caps do well. I don't quite clear the zone as
Stannis manages to clear. There's a break here. Vorivia but Nake is the space. How
that happened I don't know. You just can't quite control the puck though. Storm
caught sleeping a little bit there Dallas. Yeah that's definitely not something
we want to give up on the power play and definitely not that much skill out there
against you. There's a penalty coming up on the
Edinburgh capitals I mean it's possibly a delay of game due to these more
strictly enforced face-off rules. What's your view on those new rules? I don't think
the new rules are just enforcing them I think. Yeah it's the same things that
we've been playing with all year but I think they were looking at the how long
games we're getting and that was a big factor and you know right now they're
trying to tighten that up so everyone's been warned so there's not really any
excuse for not being ready for that. So you're as up at us sitting the two
minutes for the Edinburgh capitals and Storm go back on the power plate. Zero
for one at the moment. Stannis. Stannis fires it in. Good pad save from
Shagalu.
Caps looking to break. Short-handed. Fiori Biev. Chases it down. Pits a bit of
pressure on Mike Clemente and the Storm Dima. Storm looking to break out the set
move here. Stannis chips it in. Both Stannis and Springer out there on the
power player Dallas. Yeah I think after the last one giving up the break you may
want to be a little more defensive out there with it. Hammond surveying his
options. Beads it back to Stannis. Two Springer. Hammond just in his skate.
Stannis! Put in on net.
Storm chipped in again. Picked up by Baker. Tori Rosehill. As the caps manage to
clear the zone. Fifty-five seconds to go on the power plate.
Caps net miner making the one good save and the old stretching out of his pad
there. Storm coming out with a bit of pace again. Byers. Byers taking in deep.
Drops it off too long. Long to Becker. Finding Trentz. Trentz fires it. It's in the
back of the net! Possible tip there I think from Dane Byers as Trentz fires it in.
Power plate go for the Manchester Storm. Talk us through that one Dallas. You know
it was good control. Put it up top where you want it. We got the big guy in front
of the net and that's good things to happen when you're there. It was a great
shot by Trentz getting it through and Byers doing his job being in front of
it. So the Manchester Storm stretching out that lead to two goals now. It was
just there was thirty-two seconds remaining on the power plate. Storm
win the draw and here is Moffitt and Becker picks it up. Moffitt feeds it
across the Byers through the legs pass to Springer. Springer chips it in. Stick
down. Moffitt puts a hit on his man.
Drivdon looks to clear the zone and try to feed Anderson. Couldn't quite get a
stick to it. Ice is a little bit tilted in favour of the storm at the moment
Dallas. Yeah we're doing a lot better job at controlling the play not forcing
too many things and just taking the chances when they develop. Moffitt just
going around with a good stick there by a Kozola and it's just to feed Anderson
back to Kozola. Kozola looking for a pass here. Anderson good play by Anderson.
Anderson looks to put a shot on better from the Edinburgh Capitals. Often here
it's said here there's no such thing as a bad shot on goal and proved to be okay.
There was a stick coming in. It was almost a dangerous deflection for the
caps man waiting in front of Mike Clemente. Yeah you never know what happens
when you put it on net so that's a big thing is if you got a chance you might
as well take it. It's won by Lawrence unfortunately unable to keep the
puck in the zone. A little bit scrappy at the moment. Storm do well to get out of
their own zone just about. Here's Hammond. Feeds it across to Hanson. Picked up by
Plews. Caps looking for that dangerous pass across the ice in their own zone.
Pitt picks it up. Hanson. Feeds it to Pitt. Pitt possibly looking. Puts it top
shelf. Goes top cheese. What a finish by Scott Pitt.
Shagaloo is just rooted to his spot up against his near post and Scott Pitt
finds that top shelf on the far side. That was a great job by Hammond holding the
puck in there and then once the puck got to Pitt the guy has a great shot and he
made no mistake there. So Scott Pitt now just needs one more goal to get to the
100 goal mark in the elite league. A late addition to the Storm roster. Scott Pitt
has he settled into the team. He's been good. He's a great team guy. The guy has a
lot of skill. He's a great skater and that shot of his is lethal and he can get it
going. I think it took him a couple of weeks to find his feet but he looks like
he's coming good now. He said that he's almost a point for game at the moment.
Here is the man. Beautiful play there. As it looks like Hanson will get the
credit for that goal. Storm stretching their legs a bit now. They find their
fifth goal of the evening. Hammond took it in. Good play by Pitt to find his
man. We're just getting the replay together. Getting his second goal
tonight I believe. Yeah looks like that new line is starting to click. I think the
caps have just chosen to take a time out at the moment just to settle things down
as you can see the caps coach Dimitri Krzyszczicz. He's having a few words with
his players. That's unfortunate for the caps because they've done well to to make
it a competitive game well well into the second period.
So we look to restart the game. Baker's throwing. He's up against Kozola. Long
comes in to take his place. Here's Derazio. Derazio once again. Deeds it back to
Drakonov. Trofton putting some pressure on Lyndon Springer. Important here for the
caps not to let their heads drop. Yeah it's a last three minutes and you know
there's still a lot of hockey left so it's big for them to not kind of slump
off here and make this any worse for them going into the break.
They just say if they get the next goal and you know it soon starts to make
things a little interesting. It's just important that the caps manages they
either to go in at this 5-1 deficit or trying to get one back before the break
and then the locker be a different locker room than I guess that is. Yeah
anytime you can get one in the last couple minutes of a period you know it
kind of just lifts the team no matter what the score is so for us we got to
look into closing out this period strong without giving up anything and for
caps you know they want to have a good effort here and not make matters any
worse. Ferguson, Harry Ferguson feeds it across. Good stick work there by Stannis.
Lawrence no look feed unfortunately nobody was there. Hansen picks it up, fires,
drops it in for Moffitt, Moffitt just loses his edge. Could have been nasty that one.
It's easy to turn an ankle works. Yeah they got like Marth, he's always moving
those feet so you know you don't want to be seeing him go down. How does the ice
change here as the game goes on? Does it get a little softer? One minute out in front.
Dane Byers finds the goal. Storm get their six for the night with a feed from Becker.
Just a play along the boards. Moffitt was able to find Becker, he was able to
find Dane Byers. Yeah that was just a great entry you know. Guys making tape
to tape passes and Dane with the patience going to the net and was able to
finish it off. You can just tell how much skill he has. He's one of those players
who is sneaky good I think. Valiyev taking the draw up against Hammond.
Valiyev does win the draw. Here is Valiyev, feeds it off to Banishkoff. Banishkoff
fires it around the board. Clemente manages damping it down but Valiyev there
to pick it up. Here is Valiyev. Sticked out by Storm and Hammond does well. Just to
kill off a few extra seconds before dumping that high into the corner.
Storm being aggressive on the forecheck, keeping the puck down in the cap zone.
Better cross. Springer chips it out. Caps need to come out of the zone to
reset. Here is Nate Fleming. Backhands it in. Banishkoff just took a tumble at
mid ice there, nothing sinister I don't think. He's back on his feet. 49 seconds
to go on this cap's power plate. Baker trying to flush them out. The power play
for the caps tries to come with a bit of pace. Throbdorf chips it in for Anderson
to chase. Rimmed around. Funny bounce off the board. It's dangerous there. Throbdorn got
Anderson. Tries to stick it down out of mid-air. A lot of funny bounces from that
corner. Even more so than usual tonight. It's a netminder I guess Mike. He's got to
be wary of when that puck goes in that bottom corner. Yeah it's one of those
ones that some ices have a spot and you just never know what's gonna happen.
That's ours and Mike's doing a good job at making sure he's reading.
Dangerous feed as the storm come back to full strength. Declan Barma head
straight to the bench as Rose Hill comes on in his place. Five good save from Mike
Clemente. Big shot there by the caps man. It was Anderson that got the shot away.
Rose Hill just feeds it back behind the blue line as the storm are gonna have to
come out and reset. Ryan Trentz across the Swindlerhurst. Swindlerhurst. Feeds it in.
Got a tip. No icing. Rose Hill chases it down anyway.
Rose Hill battling on the boards. Losers out though. Break here for the caps if they can get
out of it. It's Valiyev. Sorry, Eupatis. Here is Eupatis. Pickpocked is 0-5 Rose
Hill trying to put Rose Hill on the boards as the caps do regain the
possession. 13-40 to go in the third period. Storm still the six goals to one
up. Lawrence through centre-ice. Good pace from Lawrence. Lawrence finds it tries to
go high on Mike Clemente. Puts it over. Bit of a break here is Becker. He's got support from
Pitt. Pitt looking through his hundredth goal. Scott Pitt does well again on the
back check to dispossess. Lawrence drops it off. Fired in. Good stick there from
Becker. Great save by McLaughlin. Standing up strong there, Dallas. Yeah, he was ready
and in position to take away the angle on that tip.
Here is Lawrence once again. Picked up by Voriyev. Voriyev doesn't move. Drops it
off. Fired wide from the caps man. Banishkov getting the shot away. Good play
there by Voriyev, driving the net, dropping it off. Valiyev. Crossed
the Voriyev. Drop pass. Good stick by Scott Pitt. Hammond, two-on-one break here.
He's got support from Becker. Hammond feeds it across to Becker. Just fanned
slightly on the shot. Didn't get hold of that one, Dallas. No, it's normally a guy
that given that position you can bang at home but that was a tough break. We see
that often here. Hammond and Becker break away. Not quite able to convert
this occasion. Yeah, those two just have great chemistry and a lot of skill and
are really able to read off each other. Valiyev put up against the boards.
Storm looking to break. Picked up by Trovdon.
Taken in zone by Fleming. Fleming jumping up. Out front, Springer. He's
part of the stick as he was just winding up for that one. Frustrating.
Here's Hanson. He's got a bit of time and space trying to feed him off it. He's got
buyers there with him as well, joined up by Swinhurst. Bit of debris out on the
ice making things a little bit more difficult to move the puck round.
Swinhurst. Branson round in front. Byers looking for that hat trick goal.
Stannis feeds it to Long looking for Rose Hill.
Almost a big collision there between Long and Navarroviev. Managed to avoid each
other though. Four minutes to go. Beklenbama fires it in. Trovdon pulls a
move on Rose Hill. Fired around the boards. Caps trying to get some offensive
pressure. Unable to break here for Scott Pitt. Scott Pitt's fruit. Scott Pitt, he
finds his 100th goal in the elite league as he goes back and just around the back
of McLaughlin. Great achievement by Scott Pitt, Dallas. Oh, that's is great for him.
You know, 100 goals in this league is not a small task and that's awesome. He's
able to get it on a nice goal like that.
So yeah, Scott Pitt just going in by himself. Takes it in deep. 30 seconds to go.
All these Caps fans joining us tonight. Say thanks for bearing with me.
Appreciate it. They're probably a bit frustrating. But we all wish you all the
very best for the rest of the season and hopefully things do turn around for the
organisation. Get some results. Because there's few fans in the elite league that
deserve it more than the Edinburgh Capitals fans, that's for sure.
Nice the clock ticks down. Skate away with a 7-1 victory.
Block a room with a bit more of a pleasant place to be at the moment now than Dallas.
Yeah, guys have to be happy about that. But can't get too high right now because we've got a big test tomorrow.
So they go for the post game handshakes.
Who are you picking for your man of the match? Scott Pitt for the storm?
Yeah, I'd probably say Pitt. You know, he was moving well and he's creating a lot of chances.
So he'd probably be my pick.
And for the Caps?
I think Borey Bairf had a good game.
Do Rizio look good considering he's been out for quite a while?
Yeah, he was all for them back there tonight.
It was his early games back, so he's got a little bit of rust.
But he was a big addition to them tonight.
It was a great game tonight. You must be really proud to see your boy out there on the ice.
Yes, it was a really good game. Finally we got a win. I was waiting for that.
It's just exciting here.
Is it good to have your mum up there in the crowd, Lyndon?
Yeah, it's good. I think she kept me out of a fight tonight, so I think she's happy about that.
But it's good to get a win in front of her and it's nice having her over here for the couple of weeks since she's here.
Man of the match, two goals and the two goals that you needed for your 100 goals in the EHL. How are you feeling about that?
Yeah, I feel pretty good. Obviously we needed that win. We were kind of on a little bit of a slide there, so that was good for our confidence.
Obviously you give a lot of credit to my line mates getting me the fuck, getting me in the right spot there, so it went really well tonight.
How's the transition been from Bray Heads and then you went abroad and came back to Storm later, obviously, than the other guys came in?
It's been really good actually. Obviously I played with Ryan for three years, so I knew him. We have a good relationship.
He brought me over pretty seamlessly. All the guys have been great. Everybody's welcomed me very well.
My wife and I love the city, so it's been awesome. We're sitting in first place right now, so that's pretty fun.
Are you looking forward to your trip to Belfast tomorrow?
Yeah, of course. In Belfast, it's always a tough game, so if we can come away with two points, that'll be huge for us.
Another great score for Storm against the Capitals. They made the first period look a bit difficult, but from then on in it was plain sailing.
Yeah, I thought they competed pretty hard. I thought they created some good looks in that first. I think to come out of it 2-1 was maybe a bit flattering.
We didn't play that great, but I think we got better as the game went on and maybe just kind of overwhelmed them in the second and kind of put the game to a bed.
Scott played really well tonight. First two goals for the club and it's 100 elite league goals. You must be pleased how the new guys are coming through.
Yeah, I think it took them a little longer than we anticipated, but I think everybody's starting to see what the quality has and what he can do.
The goals he scored tonight were those are high-end goals and the speed he had on the second one.
I've seen it obviously for four years in Brayhead. I've seen what he can do and tonight I think he's starting to find his feet here in Manchester now.
You saw Gerard Hansen with two great goals as well tonight. He's been a little bit in the background up to now. Is this to do with your shake in the tree, with your special line-ups, etc.?
Yeah, we shook the bush a little bit and changed it up. We felt we got a little stale. I thought all three lines were going. I love that Baker-Rosehill long line. They provide so much energy. They're good defensively.
But we switched up to six forwards here a little bit to see if we can inject a little bit of life. I really liked what I saw tonight.
Have we got any update on how Chris Ogier is doing and how Dallas is coming along?
Yeah, Ogier is in Canada. He's back Monday morning. We're still very, very hopeful that we could see him early to mid-December.
But until he probably gets on the ice and sees how he feels, we aren't 100%. It's getting exciting with the thought of bringing Ogier back in.
He's been out for a while and I think we kind of forgot how good of a player he is. A lot of competition on this team for spots when that happens. That's good for coaching staff.
Dallas won't play next week and we'll look to get him back the week after here. We definitely won't put him in next weekend.
Traveling to Belfast for tomorrow's game. You beat Belfast 2-1 when they were here at the rink last time you played them. How are you feeling about tomorrow's game?
Yeah, I think we're confident going in. We're confident everywhere we go. They've obviously been resting since Wednesday and they're going to be a tough opponent.
They're going to be waiting for us to get there. Hopefully we've got a smooth travel day and we get in nice and early and get ready for what's going to be a tough game.
Thank you.
