Fri 11 Sep 2026 - 12:30PM
WEEKEND LOWDOWN: MANCHESTER BACK-TO-BACK
➡️ CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR PANTHERS HOME GAMES ⬅️
The official start of the season is this coming weekend as Nottingham Panthers will start their defence of the Challenge Cup with two games against Manchester Storm.
It all starts in Nottingham at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday (19:00 face-off) and at the AO Arena in Manchester on Sunday (16:00 face-off).
This will be the first time the two teams have faced each other since Storm ended Panthers 2025/26 season by knocking them out of the playoffs at the quarter-final stage.
Storm start the season with 14 returnees from their 2025/26 team, the most any Elite league tam have retained except for Cardiff Devils who brought back 18 players. However, captain Chase Harrison will miss the start of the season due to an injury picked up in the summer.
They played three games in pre-season, losing 3-1 in Coventry, 4-1 in Sheffield and then succumbing to a narrow 6-5 shootout loss to the Steelers last Sunday in their first game back at the AO Arena in front of over 11,000 fans.
Anton Karlsson, Brandon Cutler, Brady Gilmour (all 1+1) and Lewis Hook (0+2) finished pre-season with two points from the three games.
Panthers won three and lost one of their pre-season games with Chase Pearson top scoring with five goals and two assists, with four of those goals on the powerplay. Other notable scorers were Tim Doherty with 1+4, Matt Alfaro with 1+3, Spencer Nass with 2+1 and Max Grondin with three goals.
Looking back to last season, Panthers played 10 games against Storm in the Challenge Cup, regular-season and playoffs, scoring 30 goals and conceding 24. Of players that have returned for 2026/27 Chase Parson scored 3+7, Tim Doherty 5+3, Matt Alfaro 1+3 and Zsombor Garát 2+2.
This weekend will see the teams play the 133rd and 134th competitive games against each other since they first faced each other on 20th October 1996. Panthers have won 72 games, Storm 55 games with 5 draws.
In Nottingham, there have been 66 games with Panthers winning 43 games, Storm winning 20 games and three ties.
There have also been 66 games in Manchester with Panthers winning 29 games, Storm winning 35 and 2 two ties.
In the Challenge Cup, the two teams have faced each other 34 times with Panthers winning 22 games to Storm’s 12.
Hockey is back for the new season. Join us at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday as Panthers begin their quest for a 10th Challenge Cup title.
Secure your seats now
As of Friday lunchtime, there's under 700 tickets remaining for the visit of the Storm on Saturday.
You should be able to buy on the door at the Box Office ahead of face-off, but you are urged to secure your seats now.
Come join the passionate #PanthersNation and feel that special Panthers roar! The game is sponsored by Lake Energy.