Manchester Storm hero Brady Gilmour has revealed how he planned to outsmart Panthers netminder Kevin Carr which led to the team finally making the play-off finals weekend.

It was drama at its finest as the quarter final tie went the distance, needing a shootout to determine who would be back at the Motorpoint Arena this weekend.

And after every other penalty shot had been missed, Gilmour admits there were some nerves before he skated to take on what proved to be the decisive shot.

“I had an idea of what I wanted to do after seeing a couple of the guys shoot before me,” he said.

Luckily enough, it ended up going in plus Ridds (netminder Drew DeRidder) was incredible all weekend to make that last save. It was a great feeling to be able to get the series win.

There was definitely a bit of pressure as I stepped up so I’d say there were some nerves there before going.

Cam didn’t say much after telling me I was shooting, but the guys all said some encouraging words before I was up so I think that helped, and then was fortunate enough that mine went in.”

With the Panthers behind them, Sheffield Steelers are next as Storm look to book a place in Sunday’s grand finale.

Gilmour is enjoying having helped Manchester achieve that little piece of history, but revealed just being there wasn’t the aim at the start of the season.

“⁠It’s great that we’ve gotten to the final four weekend and doing something that no other Storm team has done before,” he said. “Before the year, making the final weekend wasn’t our main goal. We want to win a trophy.

We enjoyed the win and the atmosphere with our fans in Nottingham was great, but like I said, that isn’t our main goal. We’ve refocused and are going to do everything we can to get a win against Sheffield on Saturday.

This weekend will be a fun one to be a part of. All four teams want to put their best foot forward to try and win that trophy.

We know what we’re capable of so we’re just going in and focused on playing well on Saturday. I’m confident in what our team can do, so I’m excited to get to Nottingham this weekend.”

By: Craig Anderson