When Alex Oldale signed for Manchester Storm in the middle of June, barely an eyebrow was raised.

Elite League fans have seen teams sign young British goaltenders before but never had the opportunity to witness them in action for any sustained period.

That appeared to be the case for Oldale, who was the clear number two behind starting goaltender Evan Weninger.

It was with good reason because the Canadian netminder was posting exceptional numbers behind a losing team.
A 2.46GAA and 0.926Sv% were a big reason behind Manchester’s relative success in the league standings.

On the lead-up to Christmas, the Manchester Storm suffered a devastating blow when Weninger was injured thirteen minutes into a home game against the Nottingham Panthers.

Alex Oldale was thrust into the fray despite having played next to nothing in the way of competitive hockey.

In fact, at the recent World Championships where Oldale represented Great Britain for the first time, he also made a relief appearance in his only action.

Albeit it was just three minutes on that occasion due to an equipment issue, but the 19-year-old stood up well to the challenge. He turned aside five shots, including saves on a penalty kill, showing excellent mental fortitude and the ability to switch into game mode when required.

The Sheffield native faced a more daunting task at the professional level but excelled in relief.
Oldale turned aside 41 of 42 shots to lead the Storm to a 4-2 victory.

With Weninger’s injury keeping him out for an extended period and Manchester unable to sign anyone until after the holiday period, the net was Oldale’s.

A 32-save performance the following evening against Nottingham allowed Manchester to pull off a come-from-behind 5-4 win on the road.

Even better was to follow on Boxing Day as Oldale denied 47 of 50 shots and won a shootout as the Storm defeated the Guildford Flames.

Even a 5-0 thumping at the hands of the same opponent the following day wasn’t without some credit for the goaltender as he once more faced a heavy workload of 39 shots.

Though four games, Oldale has posed a 0.922Sv% and given Manchester a chance to win.

More importantly, the Great Britain goaltender has made his stamp in the professional game for the first time of asking and hopefully earned some trust to garner further ice time in 2024.

Manchester has secured the services of another import goaltender and is only waiting on documentation for the deal to go through.

Whether the new addition works out or not, Manchester knows they can place a deal of faith in a young British goaltender looking to make his way in the sport.

Albeit at the tentative stage of his career, Alex Oldale has made huge strides, having seized an opportunity few receive in his position.

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