Hull Seahawks v Leeds Knights - No more favours as Seahawks aim to end Knights' treble hopes

Last season, the Knights ruled the roost over a Seahawks team in its infancy and beset by the kind of issues you would only expect a newly-created franchise to encounter during its first few months.

By late January it was clear the Seahawks - denied imports Emil Svec and Andrej Themar until early November due to visa issues - were out of the play-off picture with head coach Matty Davies switching his attention to the 2023-24 NIHL National season.

By contrast, the Knights - in only their second season and their first full campaign under head coach Ryan Aldridge - enjoyed a memorable few months.

The disappointment of their NIHL National Cup final defeat over two legs to Peterborough Phantoms was quickly forgotten amid the celebrations that came with winning the league title. Then throw in the play-off championship for good measure.

The Knights remain in the frame for all three trophies this time around and, naturally, will want to go one better.

Standing in their way are Davies’ Seahawks - an altogether different proposition compared to last year.

A summer rebuild coupled with holding on to a core group of players, meant the Seahawks entered 2023-24 full of ambition and a belief that silverware was a genuine possibility.

Given the administrative problems they had with their imports last time around, it’s clear Davies and his team have fared much, much better second time out.

Towering forward Emil Svec returned to continue offering his physical presence and eye for goal, while Brock Bartrholomew has proved a revelation in defence.

Young Canadian centre Bobby Young offered promise early on but, as the season developed, found it difficult to maintain his influence on games, eventually seeing himself jettisoned and replaced last week by former Bristol Pitbulls playmaker, Owen Sobchak.

Throw in the summer return of local heroes Bobby Chamberlain and Lee Bonner - to join the existing group of Hull-born players - and it comes as no surprise that the Seahawks are punching their weight at the right end of the table this time around.

The regular season title looks like being Leeds’ to throw away and - sat 14 points back and with 19 games left to play - is almost certainly beyond fourth-placed Hull.

But this week’s two-legged National Cup semi-final - the first instalment of which is in Hull tonight (7.30pm) - is most certainly not.

The second leg comes 48 hours later in Leeds, who have already tasted defeat on home ice this season at the hands of Davies’s players back on December 22.

The following night, however, saw the Knights gain instant revenge for that 4-2 setback when they eased to a 5-0 win in Hull.

It would be a huge surprise were that repeated this evening.

Davies has often talked about his team’s ability to raise their game against the best the league has to offer and they proved it again by beating Swindon 6-2 at home on Sunday – hampering the visitors' pursuit of the Knights.

Now they need to do it twice more in the next 72 hours.

“I think Leeds know they are in for a battle,” said Davies. “It is a different sort of game because it’s the Cup, so I’d say form goes out the window in a sense.

“But we’re talking about a team who is the best in the league by a pretty long way at this point and I think they’ve proved that time and time again.

“This is going to be a real, real tough test for us and we have to be at our absolute best - but we’ve got every confidence that we are going to turn up and put in a serious shift on Wednesday.

“I’m so proud of the fact that we’re even in this semi-final - I don’t think a lot of people realise how big it is for us as a club to be in there.

“These are the two biggest games of the year for us this week. We know what Leeds will bring, they are where they are for a reason. We’ve got to match that and more.”

Defenceman Josh Hodgkinson will bring an unexpectedly quick end to his time with Hull after the two games against his former Knights’ team-mates as personal circumstances back home in Northern Ireland mean he has to stay there.

His presence will help alleviate the absence of Thomas Stubley on the back end after he picked up an injury in saturday’s 4-1 win at Sheffield Steeldogs.

Leeds will go into the eagerly-anticipated tie at full strength, but fully aware of the potential hazards coming their way on both nights.

Davies has played for Aldridge in both Swindon and Leeds and the two have remained in regular contact, with the more experienced coach of the two impressed by the job done by his younger counterpart.

“They’ve got good goaltending, good D and good forwards and with Svec on the ice have a chance to score every night,” said Aldridge. “Sobchak had a good season with Bristol last season. He knows how to put the puck in the net and is a smart little hockey player. He will definitely make them better.

“Matty has done a good job of turning things around because it was getting a bit rough for a couple of weeks after we won at theirs.

“It’s a case of just making saure we get back to ours still in the tie. We’ve got to go there and be switched on. These are going to be two really good games.”