Playoffs That Never Were 1st QF: Devils vs. Storm

Photo: David Williams

If Cardiff and Manchester had met in the Quater-Finals of the playoffs, how would the series have gone?

To decide this first matchup in the Playoffs that never were, we need your votes! But it's worth taking into account how the teams had done against each other during the season.

Don't forget that the 2020 Playoff jerseys go on sale from 1900 on Monday 6 July!

In Manchester, the teams had played their three fixtures already. The Devils won 4-1 in early November although two of their goals were inside the final 1:56 of the game. Four days into 2020, the Storm got their first win against Cardiff with a 4-1 home victory in part thanks to three goals in eight minutes during the third period. Then a week later the Devils added out the Storm by a single goal at the Storm Shelter, 2-1 with Stephen Dixon's winning coming just under 13 minutes from the end. Suffice to say that any playoff battle would have probably been very tight in Manchester.

At the Viola Arena the Devils would have been likely favourites, however again the games during 2019/20 between the teams were close there, too. The Devils needed a late Sam Duggan goal to snatch a 3-2 win just before Christmas in a match that the Storm had led in while back in October two Joey Haddad goals had given the hosts a 3-1 win - the last of which being an empty-net goal.

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If @cardiffdevils had played @Mcr_Storm in the Playoff QFs, who do you think would have won? | #EIHL

— EIHL (@officialEIHL) July 6, 2020