Leeds Knights coach Dave Whistle puts players through their paces in first practise session

Leeds Knights’ head coach Dave Whistle made his first visit to his new ‘office’ yesterday, taking in several meetings with club and ice rink employees, ahead of holding a first-ever practise session with his new team.

Not all the team were there, of course, with some players still to be announced – including one tomorrow.

But those that did make it for the introductory session made every effort into being there, none more so than Scottish-born forward Lewis Houston, who probably won the award for making the most effort to get on the ice after making a 370-mile round trip from Dumfries – over six hours driving in total – just to ensure he wouldn’t miss out

Thankfully for Houston’s sake – he is currently working as a postman back home until the hockey begins – he will be one of a handful of players provided with accommodation for next season, meaning his regular commutes to the rink on Bobby Collins Way should last no more than 10-15 minutes – give or take the occasional Leeds gridlock.

Last night was a chance for Whistle to see first-hand the various stages of where his new charges are at, some having benefitted from playing and training in recent months, while others have been unable to get on the ice since March 2020, given the various lockdowns which have affected rinks on and off since the pandemic first came about.

But, overall, Whistle was impressed with what he saw on the ice, seeing the likes of Kieran Brown, Adam Barnes, Cole Shudra, Sam Zajac and Sam Gospel in action up close for the first time.

Others to take part included fellow summer signings Lewis Baldwin, Joe Coulter and Jordan Griffin, although former Hull Pirates’ centre Matty Davies and defenceman Ross Kennedy were unable to attend.

“It was very good,” said Whistle. “It looks like a bunch of those guys have been skating for the last two or three weeks, they were getting tired by the end of practice, but they didn’t slow down because they wanted to slow down they were slowing down because they were working hard.

“We only had 13 skaters and three goalies, but the goalies got a lot of shots and I got to see all of them play, I got to see defencemen making good passes and I felt the practice went really well overall.”

The competitive season starts for the Knights on October 18 at home to Bees IHC in the NIHL National Cup, with warm-up games the previous weekend against Sheffield Steeldogs and Telford Tigers.

This morning, Knights fans have been told that they will have an even earlier chance to see the team in action after the announcement of a double-header weekend against Swindon Wildcats.

The Knights will travel to Wiltshire on Saturday, September 4 before playing host at Elland Road the following evening at 5.15pm.

“I’m really looking forward to playing games,” said Whistle. “It’s been a long time since the players and myself have been involved in league games.

“The Swindon games will give us a good idea on where we are at that moment and what we will still need to work on.”