Planning begins in earnest as Leeds Chiefs prepare for season’s end

It was hoped that, even though their chances of making the playoffs disappeared two weeks ago, the Chiefs could rally and still end the season on a high note by producing the kind of winning streak that had proved elusive all year.

It wasn’t to be, Saturday’s 5-1 loss at Swindon Wildcats stretching their losing streak to six games ahead of last night’s scheduled clash against Milton Keynes Lightning back at Elland Road.

That encounter never took place, however, after Milton Keynes’ players opted against travelling to West Yorkshire due to their growing concerns over the ever-worsening coronavirus situation.

It was a stand that went against the English Ice Hockey Association’s position on Friday that stated all scheduled games would be played this weekend, in line with the latest UK government and health agency advice which had been announced the previous day. It is understood league bosses will discuss the latest way forward today.

All four scheduled games took place on Saturday - including the Lightning’s home clash against Sheffield Steeldogs - but their decision not to travel to Leeds was replicated by Bracknell Bees and Basingstoke Bison, who also opted not to contest their respective games at Sheffield and Hull Pirates.

In the end, two games still went ahead, Telford Tigers clinching the regular season title with a 7-3 home win over Raiders IHC, second-placed Swindon’s 10-3 defeat at Peterborough Phantoms proving irrelevant.

But while his former club Telford were celebrating deep into the night at St Quentin Gate, Chiefs’ player-coach Sam Zajac was adamant that the last couple of weeks had plenty of plus points.

“If this is the end of the season, it does feel strange,” said Zajac. “Obviously our season was kind of done in one way anyway with us missing out on the playoffs but it’s a very strange way to finish.

“We kind of said to the guys before Friday that any game now could be our last of the season, so let’s make the most of it and treat every game like it was.

“And I know we didn’t get the results we wanted this week but I felt like we applied ourselves well, there wasn’t any quit in either game, which was a positive.

“The results weren’t there at the end of the year that we had hoped for. It looked like we’d turned a corner a few times but we never really managed to kick on but, for us, the last couple of months has been about building towards next season and getting the right building blocks in place.”

Import forward Andres Kopstals was missing from the Chiefs’ last two games after taking up the opportunity offered by the club to return home to Canada in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

He has been able to switch a flight originally booked for next month to this week, enabling him to return home.

“Andres came to me and said he had concerns and that he wanted to get back home,” explained Zajac. “With the way it has been going in terms of travel, he didn’t want to be stuck here weeks after the season.

“He wanted to be with his family, he didn’t want to take anything back with him if he went or risk it (the situation in the UK) getting worse and we fully respected that.

“At the end of the day, it is about Andres’ welfare his family which is the most important thing. There are far bigger things in life than hockey.”