No Chance Storm would miss out on Canadian star
MANCHESTER Storm have signed Canadian Chance Baird for the rest of the season, with Dylan Anderson leaving the club.
Forward Baird, 24, joins from Czech second league team HC Benatky nad Jizerou, where he played 21 games.
He has played in the ECHL for the Idaho Steelheads, where he played with new Storm teammate Rob Linsmayer, and Allen Americans.
“We’ve known about the possibility of Chance becoming free for a few weeks now,” said Storm head coach Ryan Finnerty.
“He plays the game the right way. He is hard to play against, goes to the net with a purpose and is a physical presence who brings it every game.
“I haven’t been happy with the compete level of some of my guys. We are not an organisation that will stand by being mediocre. Chance will make Storm a better team and I’m looking forward to working with him this season.”
Finnerty, meanwhile, says the door isn’t closed on a possible return for Anderson.
He said: “Dylan is such a great person and team-mate. He never did get going here with the number of imports we have. He is a very popular guy in our club and I would never close the door on having him back in the future, under different circumstances.”
The moves come after Storm suffered a rocky weekend as they lost to both Cardiff Devils and Sheffield Steelers.
Champions Cardiff ended Storm’s unbeaten home record with an overtime win in Altrincham. But it wasn’t without a fight from Storm, who came from behind three times and even went 4-3 ahead in the final period with goals from Luke Moffatt, Mike Hammond (two) and Ciaran Long, before a late leveller took it to overtime.
But Devils’ Drew Schiestel scored the decider to claim the points for the visitors.
Storm started slowly at the Steelers on Sunday and found Sheffield too strong, the home side running out 4-1 winners.
Finnerty was upset by a hit on Long by Davey Phillips.
He said: “Head injuries and concussion are high on the agenda and Ciaran was fortunate not to be badly injured.”
Storm travel to Milton Keynes on Saturday before playing Fife Flyers on Sunday. JOSE Mourinho has only ever called one player, Romelu Lukaku, an untouchable since taking charge at Old Trafford. But even the United manager’s beloved sergeant has been dropped this season.
The striker, who is approaching 1,000 minutes without a club goal, has started just one of the past four games despite previously being one of the first names on the team sheet. The message is clear – no one’s place is assured anymore – and even United’s highest earner, Alexis Sanchez, has been left out of two match day squads this season.
When fit, only a handful of players have been regulars. David de Gea and Luke Shaw have been everpresents when available since the season opener against Leicester, while Nemanja Matic has kept his place since overcoming an abdominal injury in August. It is easy to forget that Chris Smalling, another regular, was initially out of the team for the first two games of the season when Mourinho paired Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly together.
Boy, does that feel a lifetime ago.
Mourinho has chopped and changed at will as he tackles the most challenging period of his reign, regularly making four or five changes to his side on a game by game basis.
In the first four months of the season, at various points, we have seen 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3.
Scott McTominay and Ander Herrera have been used in defence. Andreas Pereira has not started a game since August 19, despite featuring in the first two games.
Anthony Martial, the club’s top scorer, only nailed down a starting spot last month.
Mourinho has used his squad more than he probably intended – 22 different players have already started league games this season and that is not usually his style. Only Fulham have made more changes to their starting line-up in the Premier League this season than United. This is not an elaborate rotation plan. Mourinho’s ‘less is more’ approach to training revolves around the ball rather than aimless laps around the pitch with the aim of reducing the amount of injuries his side suffers. That helped Mourinho pick his strongest team at Porto, Inter and Chelsea on a weekly basis and that continuity was crucial to his success at those clubs. At United, you would do well to predict the bench these days – let alone the starting line-up. Take Tuesday’s win against Young Boys when Mourinho treated the game like a knockout tie and picked players who could cope with ‘a little pressure’ after questioning his sides’s heart a few days previously. Three of United’s most high-profile signings – Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Sanchez – were not in Ciaran Kelly