Leeds Knights coach Dave Whistle on why he is happy with the balance of his roster after triple signing

Today’s announcement of three more signings – defencemen Bobby Streetly and Archie Hazeldine and forward Ethan Hehir – sees head coach Whistle head into this weekend’s pre-season exhibition double-header against Swindon Wildcats with seven D-men and nine forwards.

Harrison Walker will be back up for netminder Sam Gospel in Saturday’s encounter at Swindon, with Whistle also taking a look at youngster Jacob Hammond – a product of the Billingham Stars junior system - as another option going forward, the 17-year-old goalie having practised with the Knights in recent weeks.

Since arriving in the UK last month, Whistle has spent the past 2-3 weeks assessing the players at his disposal, believing he has enough quality in his all-British contingent to avoid the need for any import players.

On the whole, it is a youthful-looking team but, with key, experienced personnel such as Sam Zajac, Matty Davies, Jordan Fisher and Streetly also in the mix, there is a healthy blend, one that excites the 55-year-old Canadian.

“I think we’re going to have a pretty, fast offensive team,” said Whistle. “Most of our forwards are pretty good skaters and they’ve got pretty good skill levels – we’ve got a lot of goalscoring up front.

“Our D, right now, at the beginning of the year, we want them to join the rush but we don’t necessarily want them to be the rush. If the D can get the puck up the ice quickly, we’ve got good speed, pretty good skill and I believe we’re going to creat a lot of scoring chances for ourselves off the rush and with our speed.”

On his decision to go for seven defencemen, Whistle explained that with a number of two-way players on his roster, he didn’t want to take any chances in terms of numbers.

“I don’t usually sign extra players, but I didn’t want to lose anybody,” added Whistle. “There are opportunities for Cole Shudra to be going up, Ben Solder to be going up, there may be some injuries along the way for us so I didn’t want to be short of guys.

“Most of the time, my teams have had nine forwards and six D - that way everybody is playing, everybody is rolling. I’ll try and play everyone as much as I can, I don’t sit players for the whole game, I want to get them on the ice, especially at the beginning of the year in these exhibition games - I need to see what they can do, after all, that’s what these exhibition games are for.

“We might bring a defenceman up during games, put him on the wing or something like that, go with six D and I’ll try to fit guys in different slots. But I’m happy with the numbers we’ve got at both ends of the ice.”

Knights’ fans will know two of today’s signings all too well, particularly if they were among the faithful who followed Leeds Chiefs around the country during the 2019-20 inaugural season.

Streetly and Hehir were both part of Sam Zajac’s roster for that campaign, although the experienced Leeds-born defenceman suffered a torrid time, spending most of the season out injured on the sidelines.

Hehir, on the other hand, prospered and impressed during a first season playing in the UK second tier, more than holding his own and finishing the year with 20 points from 44 games, including six goals.

The third new arrival announced today represents something of a long-term project for Whistle and the club, 17-year-old Hazeldine coming in having only played a handful of senior games previously, making his mark during the behind-closed-doors NIHL North Cup for hometown team Nottingham Lions earlier this year.

“I’ve been impressed with Archie in the practice sessions we’ve had him up for,” said Whistle. “It is probably going to be a two-three year plan for him in this league.

“And if he keeps developing the same way that he has been doing then I think he’ll probably be a pretty good Elite League defenceman in about three or four years.”

While Hazeldine will be the least experienced face on the Knights’ roster, 27-year-old Streetly brings plenty of leadership to the team.

The former Blackburn Hawks and Bradford Bulldogs defenceman is confident that a full recovery from the shoulder injury that hampered his time with the Chiefs will enable him to prove what he is capable of at this level, something his head coach agrees with.

“Bobby’s a great guy, the kind who does everything for everybody else,” said Whistle. “He’s one of your typical leaders and what he does probably goes unnoticed a lot, although not by the other players on his team.

“He’s got everything, he’s a bigger guy and he can play the physical side of things.

“I know he’s looking to prove something and the last couple of years I know he said he was in a lot of pain. But now he’s fixed up and had that extra time off, he’s looking really good in practice and I think he’s going to have a good year for us.”

Bringing in Hehir will offer Whistle plenty of options when it comes to putting his forward lines together, the former GB Under-18 and Under-20 showing already that he is able to pair up with anyone.

“Ethan is a good young forward, full of energy and intensity,” added Whistle.

“He gives us plenty of variation. He’s a good two-way player, I’ve seen that in practice, he plays on the defensive side of the opposing player, which is great – all the forwards will have to learn how to do that.

“He has more skill level than a lot of people probably think. He’s got his head up while he’s got the puck on his stick, he can make a play, he always looks to make a play – so he’s another one right now, that can fit in up and down the line-up in different roles - he’ll fit in with every other player on any line.”

Leeds Knights’ 2021-22 Roster - Netminders: Sam Gospel, Harrison Walker (two-way with Widnes); Defencemen: Lewis Baldwin, Jordan Griffin, Archie Hazeldine, Ross Kennedy, Ben Solder (two-way with Manchester Storm), Bobby Streetly, Sam Zajac; Forwards: Adam Barnes, Kieran Brown, Joe Coulter, Matty Davies, Jordan Fisher, Ethan Hehir, Lewis Houston, Cole Shudra (two-way with Sheffield Steelers), Brandon Whistle (two-way with Steelers).