Manchester Storm forward Loren Ulett says his love for the game had waned when he first came to the UK, but now he can’t get enough of it.

The 31-year-old is back for a fourth season as the club gets ready to embark on a new era and he’s as excited as he’s ever back about an upcoming campaign.

But, as he explained on the latest episode of StormCast, that wasn’t always the case as he revealed who helped him find that passion of ice hockey again.

“I’ve only played for three or four organisations since junior so I’m fairly loyal to the teams I play for,” he said. “But I definitely didn’t think I would be playing as long as I have.  It wasn’t part of the plan certainly.

“Matt Ginn convinced me to come over and to be honest, I wasn’t exactly in love with the game when I made the move to Europe and to the UK.

“I lived with Cam (Critchlow) in my first year and he sort of lit a fire in the game for me in the way he competed, how he wears his heart on his sleeve in every game and in day to day life too.

“It reignited my passion for hockey and I signed a two-year deal to do my Masters in Wrexham.  Then we had a really, really good season last year and I loved the culture shift when Cam took over.

“I’ve just been playing the game and I don’t want it to stop now so when I got the offer to sign another contract, it was a no brainer.  I’m super excited to be part of building what this organisation can be.

“When I heard about the plans and what was coming, I was more than happy to stay and I just want to be a part of it.”

Ulett spoke more about his relationship with his coach, which started out as team-mates when he joined the Storm in the summer of 2023.

He’s seen the highs and lows in that time, including last season’s first visit to the play-off finals weekend in the Elite League era.

But he insists Critchlow is still the same as a coach as he was as a player after swapping the skates for a suit a year ago.

He added:

“It wasn’t too big a shift (when Cam took over as head coach). The type of leader he is, it’s super easy to want to go to war for that guy.

“At the end of the year, I do a highlight tape every year on Instagram for everyone and my own little ego I guess, but when I look back, the amount of times Cam pops up is insane.

“It’s the amount of little things he does really well so although he was a team-mate to start with, he’s always kind of been the leader in the room by a long shot.

“It’s a different position, but he’s still Cam.  He’s super competitive, he’s emotional and you know what he’s thinking all the time so it’s not a massive change to what he was as a player.”

By: Craig Anderson