Cardiff Devils face a ’Stanley Cup-style’ Storm in their Elite League play-offs quarter-final this weekend.

They take on Manchester Storm, who say: “This is our Stanley Cup weekend – and all the pressure is on Devils.”

Head coach Andrew Lord and his number one seeds play the first leg at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay on Saturday (7pm) with the return at the Silver Blades rink in Altrincham the next day (5.30pm).

Storm finished eighth in Elite League and secured the final play-offs spot available, while Devils are aiming to complete a trophy Grand Slam.

They have already won the League title, Challenge Cup plus Erhardt Conference and are intent on finishing the 2016-17 season in style.

Mike Morin, who is Storm’s assistant coach to Omar Pacha, was a player when Manchester swept into the 2002 play-off final and he says: “All the pressure is on Cardiff and, like 15 years ago, we go in as underdogs.

“But Cardiff have a smart side and we’ve had some good results against them so maybe we haven’t seen the best of the Devils yet.

“It’s a little disturbing. If we’re very ready, it could be one heck of a series, but we’re under no illusions at the task ahead.  We have to be on it 110 per cent in every department.

“A good result in Cardiff can give us an advantage.

“Our rink is the last place any team would want to go to for a game like that.

“Going into the weekend, we have to pretend this is our Stanley Cup weekend.  Play-off hockey completely different, physically and mentally.”

Morin, aged 46, was a scorer 15 years ago when Storm lost 4-3 against Sheffield Steelers in the final after penalties. They had beaten Ayr Scottish Eagles 2-1 in the last four.

Storm were bottom of the table in that season, but swept into the final and Morin says: “We didn’t have the best team in the world, but we peaked at the right time.

“We were underdogs and I think we had the hardest road in, without a doubt.

“We carried a lot of injuries, which I think bonded us as a team, and we went to the final on the back of some gutsy performances.  It was a lot of fun and a great weekend.

“Everybody probably took us for granted, not being the best team that year, but we certainly showed we were better than had been anticipated.

“There are comparisons between the team this year and the team I played in 15 years ago.  Omar has put together a team with a lot of character.

“We didn’t get the results at the time, but we stuck together and battled every night.  We didn’t give up either and that’s the same as the team this season.

“We’ve been down more than up, but we never stopped and to get three out of four points against Nottingham in the last two games when it was crunch time proves what this team has.”

Devils goaltender Ben Bowns refuses to take Omar Pacha’s side lightly and referred to defeats earlier in the season to show Storm are capable of causing an upset.

“I wouldn’t say there’s extra pressure on us,” says Bowns. “The league was tight. Whether people see us as favourites, I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

“Manchester have beaten us this season and when they did it wasn’t down to us having a bad night. They fought and fought and were the better team on the night.

“They’re not a team to be taken lightly.

“We’re at home in the first game and it was the same last year, where we lost the home tie and it put so much pressure on us going to Dundee needing to get something.

“It’ll be the same against Manchester this year. We have to take it game by game and win the first game at home to give us an advantage going to their barn.

“Confidence is high and it’s been that way for a while now.  We’ve got such an experienced team and I said after we won the Challenge Cup, it was a team of champions we had.

“But we’re trying not to think about a Grand Slam and more focussed on taking it one game at a time.”

Stefan Hogarth and Mike Hicks are referees for Saturday’s Devils v Storm match in Cardiff Bay, while Hogarth and Tom Pering are in charge of Sunday’s second leg.

Cardiff’s home game, their final Ice Arena Wales fixture of the season, looks certain to be a 3,088 sell-out with only 70 tickets still available on Friday morning.

Ticket information is available from the club’s official website or via the Arena hotline on 0800 0842 666.