Leeds Knights - Bailey Perre on why he had no hesitation in sticking around at Elland Road

The 19-year-old impressed during his first full season of NIHL National hockey with the Knights, being one of the more trusted blue liners for head coach Ryan Aldridge towards the end of a campaign which yielded a memorable league and play-off double.

Perre was keen to rejoin Aldridge in West Yorkshire having come through the Swindon junior system and then worked under him at the Okanagan Hockey Academy between 2019-21.

He’d had a brief taste of life in the second tier with his hometown team during the 2021-22 campaign but it was with the Knights last time out where he really came to the fore.

Aldridge was particularly impressed with the way the youngster handled the extra responsibility towards the end of the season, particularly with veteran D-man Sam Zajac missing through injury from March onwards.

He was keen to get Perre back on the roster for 2023-24, believing he is only going to improve further.

“Over the course of the last 6-8 weeks of last season, game in, game out, I would suggest Bailey was one of our best defenceman, he was certainly right up there,” said Aldridge on announcing the youngster’s return on Wednesday.

“He played really well, was playing against other teams’ top lines every night and really holding his own.

“When Oli Endicott came in back in November, I think we saw more of Bailey’s true character come out, too and that also helped his game.

“And his confidence had grown so much by the end of the year and when he competes and plays hard, he realised how important to us he could be.”

Perre admits he struggled to settle initially to life at NIHL National level, a couple of spells on the sidelines through injury perhaps not helping his cause.

But he was pleased with his progress by the end of the campaign and believes he can make more improvements under Aldridge during 2023-24.

“Just after Christmas I felt I had a bit of a rough patch, but then come the end of February I think it picked back up and I really showed what I could do within the team.

“That’s kind of why I was getting more minutes towards the end of the season and going into the play-offs.

“I know other teams are kind of stacking up for next season, Milton Keynes for example, but bringing in a whole group of new people can take time for everyone to adjust to.

“I think with the core group of people that we have in Leeds, we can do something special once again.”