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Phoenix Up for the Cup

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Sunday night at the Altrincham Ice Dome sees the Manchester Phoenix contest the first leg of the two-legged Challenge Cup Final against the Belfast Giants.

It’s the first time in the history of the club that they’ve made it to a Cup Final and everyone is excited about the possibility of the club lifting its first piece silverware.

Player coach Tony Hand commented, “This is best group of guys I’ve assembled in Manchester, we have a tremendous spirit in the locker room and we believe we can achieve this target. At the start of the year, we said if we could make it to a Cup Final, that in itself would be success. Now that we’re in not one, but two, we don’t want to settle for just getting there, we want to win it.”

Club Captain Kenton Smith added, “It’s an honour to captain any bunch of players, but this season has been brilliant. We’ve been written off a few times, but we keep on bouncing back and we’re knocking on the door of success right now. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to lift the Challenge Cup for this club and our fantastic supporters.”

Sunday evening at the Altrincham Ice Dome is a 5.30pm face-off and promises to be a rip-roaring encounter. Both sides have won in each others building this season and whoever wins on Sunday will take both a physical and psychological advantage into the second leg in Belfast on March 17th.

Phoenix GM Andy Costigan noted, “The Cup won’t necessarily be won on Sunday evening in Altrincham, but with the spirit the guys have shown during the recent hectic schedule and roared on by what we hope will be close to a full house, we can put ourselves in with a great chance of lifting our first silverware. It’s been a rocky, roller-coaster of a ride since the club was formed, but everyone concerned has belief in this squad and we’re really hoping this is our time in the spotlight.”