Former Cardiff Devils captain Ryan Finnerty brings his Manchester Storm team to Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay this evening (Wednesday, 7.30pm).

Canadian coach Finnerty and his Storm players chased Devils almost all the way this season and were the team who looked capable of catching the leaders.

Cardiff swept to a second successive League title – taking their tally of championships to seven in four seasons – and Finnerty believes his own team can learn from Devils.

Manchester, who lie second in the League, won the inaugural Patton Conference title and Finnerty says: “That is an incredible achievement for this group.”

That make tonight’s clash Champions v Champions, a match-up between the top two teams in Britain.

“It’s been one heck or a year and far surpasses anything we could have imagined.

“To push a team like Cardiff all the way to week 29 of the season before they clinched the title was remarkable.

“From fans to players to volunteers. This has been an unbelievable season which got better and better as it went on.

“We have belief that this is the start of something special. I liken it to what Cardiff have done over the last four years.

“They turned it around and that’s where we are now, the start of an organisation who want to kick on, keep advancing.

“It’s a great time to be around Manchester Storm.”

Devils have three fixtures left in their Elite League regular season, all at home. They play Storm this evening, Belfast Giants on Saturday (7pm) and Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday (6pm).

Andrew Lord has been hailed the greatest coach in Devils history, while captain Jake Morissette has earned his place as the most successful captain over more than three decades since the club was formed.

Top end forward Joey Martin was rested from Cardiff’s last game, against Sheffield Steelers, and he is likely to play against Manchester this evening.

Lord is working to ensure his Devils team are prepared and ready for the end-of-season play-offs which start at the end of this month.

Cardiff have regularly attracted capacity attendances of 3,000-plus at their IAW home in Cardiff Bay this season, while the Elite League overall have once again seen their average league attendance ranked among the top 10 in Europe and Asia.

That fact was revealed by a IIHF study.

During this season 2017-18 regular season, the EIHL’s average attendance has been 2,678; higher than the Slovakian Extraliga, Norwegian Get-ligaen, French Ligue Magnus and Danish Metal Ligaen.

Three Elite League sides are among the top 100 clubs in Europe in terms of average attendance.

Nottingham Panthers were the highest ranked British club in 40th, ahead of Russian icons Dynamo Moscow, while Sheffield Steelers moved from 64th to 53rd in the rankings.

Belfast Giants also made the top 100, ranking 70th on the list.

Swiss club SC Bern, who Nottingham faced in this year’s Champions Hockey League, finished top of the rankings for the 17th straight year, while SKA St. Petersburg’s heavy investment paid dividends in the stands, too, with the Russian side moving past Dynamo Minsk into second place.

Unsurprisingly, the NHL are the top ranked league in the world, averaging 17,414 spectators per game. Chicago Blackhawks (21,635) and Montreal Canadiens (21,299) lead the way.

The full list of the top 100 clubs and top ranked leagues in Europe and Asia and North American can be found on the IIHF website here.

Remaining Elite League regular season fixtures 2017-18:

March

Tuesday 20: Nottingham Panthers v Fife Flyers.

Wednesday 21: Belfast Giants v MK Lightning, Fife Flyers v Sheffield Steelers, Cardiff Devils v Manchester Storm, Guildford Flames v Dundee Stars.

Friday 23: Braehead Clan v Nottingham Panthers.

Saturday 24: Guildford Flames v Braehead Clan, Sheffield Steelers v Edinburgh Capitals, MK Lightning v Fife Flyers, Manchester Storm v Coventry Blaze, Dundee Stars v Nottingham Panthers, Cardiff Devils v Belfast Giants.

Sunday 25: Belfast Giants v Dundee Stars, Coventry Blaze v Guildford Flames, Manchester Storm v Sheffield Steelers, Cardiff Devils v MK Lightning, Edinburgh Capitals v Nottingham Panthers.

Remaining Devils fixtures in the regular season (play-offs start later this month):

Wednesday 21 v Manchester Storm H (7.30pm)

Saturday 24 v Belfast Giants H (7pm)

Sunday 25 v MK Lightning H (6pm)

CLICK HERE to book a ticket for all or any of the remaining three Devils matches. Call 0800 0842 666 to book via the phone.

ELITE LEAGUE STANDINGS

Regular 2017/18 – all teams play 56 matches

Rk	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	WPCT	Pts
1	Cardiff Devils	53	39	11	1	2	.764	81
2	Manchester Storm	53	34	14	3	2	.689	73
3	Fife Flyers	54	33	19	1	1	.630	68
4	Belfast Giants	53	32	19	2	0	.623	66
5	Sheffield Steelers	53	31	19	2	1	.613	65
6	Nottingham Panthers	53	30	18	2	3	.613	65
7	Guildford Flames	53	27	17	5	4	.594	63
8	Braehead Clan	54	24	24	5	1	.500	54
9	Coventry Blaze	54	24	25	4	1	.491	53
10	Dundee Stars	53	22	27	3	1	.453	48
11	Milton Keynes Lightning	53	19	32	1	1	.377	40
12	Edinburgh Capitals	54	5	48	0	1	.102	11

THE AMAZING VIDEO HIGHER IN THIS STORY WAS PLAYED AT ICE ARENA WALES BEFORE SUNDAY’S GAME V SHEFFIELD STEELERS. IT ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE PIECE OF WORK FROM PAUL SULLIVAN OF NUTSHELL EVENTS.