Manchester Storm
Elite ice hockey at the Altrincham Ice Dome. Fast, physical and one of the best-value live sport nights in Greater Manchester.
Manchester Storm play in the Elite Ice Hockey League, the top tier of British ice hockey, out of the Altrincham Ice Dome in Trafford. The current club was reformed in 2015, carrying a name with real history in the city – the original Storm packed out the old MEN Arena in the late 1990s and briefly made ice hockey a mainstream Manchester night out. The reformed club is a more grounded operation, but the sport itself is the draw.
Ice hockey rewards a first-time crowd better than almost any sport. It is fast, it is physical, the puck and the hits keep the tempo constant, and the Ice Dome puts you close enough to hear the boards. Tickets are cheap by the standard of professional sport, the season runs through winter, and the in-game atmosphere – music, organ stabs, a genuinely partisan home crowd – makes it a proper evening out.
Altrincham is on the Metrolink at the end of the line from the city centre, and the Ice Dome is a short walk from the interchange. Worth pairing with Altrincham Market, one of Greater Manchester’s best food halls, before or after a game.
