Corey Neilson and Aaron Fox continued to cut frustrated figures behind their respective benches, with the Glasgow Clan and Sheffield Steelers misfiring to start the Elite League season.
Manchester Storm netminder Drew DeRidder produced a stunning 42-save shutout on Friday [10 October] to torment the Clan in Glasgow, condemning Neilson’s side to a 4-0 loss on home ice.
In midweek, Danny Stewart’s Nottingham Panthers faced down the Steelers and won 4-2 in Yorkshire.
Speaking after their matching defeats, Fox lamented his side’s lack of finishing touch, while Neilson pinpointed a lack of consistency as the cause for Glasgow’s troubles.
Welcome to Around the Rinks: our daily summary of every team’s post-game media remarks.
Around the Rinks: Friday, 10 October 2025
Glasgow Clan 0-4 Manchester Storm
Darien Kielb, Glasgow Clan (Image: Al Goold)
Cam Critchlow, Manchester Storm:
I thought it was an excellent road win by us: we were pretty good in the first period, with a big goal from JD Dudek. Glasgow really pushed back in the second period and they controlled the play.
Drew DeRidder really held his own and I’m impressed with him. In the third, we came with the mentality that we had to finish the game and the boys executed it. We scored a big powerplay goal — everyone is invested in what we’re doing.
Corey Neilson, Glasgow Clan:
We were poor, especially in the first period: we turned too many pucks over. The plan was to get it behind and make them work, but we didn’t do that. In the second period, the players woke up and created a tonne of separation in the offensive zone.
The guys did a lot of great things, but tonight — as usual — we only got one powerplay and that’s something we need to address somehow. We cannot generate power plays to save our lives. We had 75 shot attempts on their net and we didn’t score. Their goaltender was fantastic.
They played desperate — and it was a good road game for them. Sometimes, that’s hockey, but consistency is part of our values and I didn’t see that in the first period. I liked our second period, but frustration set in during the third, and it was a poor night overall.
Around the Rinks: Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Sheffield Steelers 2-4 Nottingham Panthers (Challenge Cup)
Robert Dowd, Sheffield Steelers (Image: Dean Woolley)
Danny Stewart, Nottingham Panthers:
I loved our game tonight and the team’s commitment to defending the right way. You’ve always got to manage the puck in this building and I thought we did a great job of stripping pucks and gaining possession.
I could go up and down the line-up and list great individual performances, but the last 120 minutes is how we want to play. I can’t say enough about our performance tonight.
I thought we did a great job of keeping them to the outside all night and we didn’t really give up many second pucks. We cleaned up well in front of our net, put our bodies on the line, and made some great plays with our sticks to break up plays. That’s so vital when you come here.
Aaron Fox, Sheffield Steelers:
It’s frustrating, again. I was frustrated the other night against Glasgow for different reasons. Tonight, I thought our compete level was pretty high in the first period and we out-hit them 14-1 and went up one-nothing.
We lost some momentum with the first goal that we conceded and I thought our second and third periods were pretty good. We’re creating offence, but we’re just not finishing anything at the moment, which is the most frustrating part.
I feel like guys are feeling a little bit sorry for themselves because they’re not finishing and they’re used to scoring. That applies to new guys and returners, who are used to being on the scoresheet a lot. It’s not a very confident group at the moment and it’s time for us to find our groove.
It’s not like when you look at the stats or the expected goals we’re down in games. We’re just not finishing and that puts a lot of stress on the rest of our game. We’ll look to tweak things and find a way to rectify this.
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