Leeds Knights coach Dave Whistle names captain and assistants for debut NIHL National campaign

The 32-year-old defenceman will be a popular appointment both with his team-mates and fans, Knights’ head coach Whistle making the announcement officially to the players at last night’s practice session at Elland Road Ice Rink.

Forward Joe Coulter reprises the assistant captain role he had with Leeds Chiefs, with Zajac’s fellow defenceman Bobby Streetly handed the other ‘A’.

The announcement comes ahead of tonight’s Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Steeldogs where the winner will finish top of the Autumn Cup group standings, both teams having already made it through to the semi-final stage.

Whistle had delayed making the announcement while he assessed the merits of various contenders throughout the Autumn Cup campaign, one which has seen the Knights win six games out of seven to sit above the Steeldogs by one point ahead of tonight’s Ice Sheffield clash.

The Canadian believes he has settled on an ideal trio which will provide the leadership qualities his young side will need in the coming months, with the NIHL National regular season getting underway tomorrow with a visit from Bees IHC (6.30pm).

It is a hectic weekend for Whistle and his players, who complete a gruelling three games in as many days when they travel to Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday, no doubt keen to exact revenge on a team who ended their winning start to the season with a 5-4 win at Elland Road last Sunday.

Whistle admitted Zajac was an obvious choice as captain, the former Braehead Clan and Telford Tigers’ D-man having shown considerable leadership qualities when player-coach of the Chiefs during a turbulent 2019-20 debut season for second tier hockey in the city.

He has also proved his commitment to the Knights cause since Whistle was appointed in the summer.

“Sammy is 150 per cent committed to being a winner and that is the kind of guy who I want to lead our team, that’s who I want in the dressing room as my captain,” said Whistle.

“The players respect him, they listen to him and he was the natural choice for me. I just know he will do a great job.

“He’s just a great team-mate, he leaves it all on the ice every single night, he works as hard as he can, he protects guys and he goes in there and battles as hard as he can every single shift.

“He’ll hold other players accountable but he’ll also hold himself accountable every single day. He works hard, he never takes a shift off, either in practice or in games. He’s one of the hardest-working guys around. So it is an easy choice for me and a great choice for the rest of the players.”

Whistle believes his two choices for ‘A’ were made easy by both Coulter and Streetly’s willingness to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful.

“Joe is a very mature player, a very mature person,” added Whistle. “If you ask him to do something that he’s not necessarily comfortable doing, he will still go and give it a go.

“I’ve kept his line with Ethan (Hehir) and Jordan (Fisher) the same just because they have been so effective together but Joe could go up and down the line-up, play on any line.

“With Bobby, he helps every guy in the dressing room out – it doesn’t matter what you need, he’s always willing to help.

“He does everything in order for the team to get better and I believe he has been playing really well this year and is getting more and more confident with each game.”