Leeds Knights: Coach Dave Whistle seeking secondary scoring in Autumn Cup showdown with Sheffield Steeldogs

Injury problems are part and parcel of every sport, of that there is no doubt. But Leeds Knights coach Dave Whistle must wake up at the moment believing he has seriously upset the ‘hockey gods’ in some shape or form.

Heading into last weekend, Whistle was without forwards Matty Davies and Cole Shudra, defenceman Jordan Griffin and, perhaps most crucially of all, No 1 goaltender Sam Gospel.

To help compensate for his depleted scoring options up front, he managed to secure the month-long loan services of Canadian-born centre Philip Edgar, who had previously been playing one tier below with Whitley Warriors.

Edgar impressed in his first appearance at the higher level when debuting in the 7-4 home defeat to Telford Tigers on Saturday. The following night in Telford, Edgar again looked to be adapting to his new surroundings well until he was forced off injured with a lower-body injury.

He too is now out for tonight’s first leg of the Autumn Cup semi-final derby encounter with Sheffield Steeldogs at Ice Sheffield, where the Knights head hoping to snap a five-gamelosing streak.

Throw into the mix the unfortunate departure of fellow forward Lewis Houston due to family and work commitments back home in Scotland and it is easy to understand the main reasons behind the Knights’ current struggles.

Davies, himself out with a lower-body injury since the 4-3 home defeat to Swindon Wildcats on October 24, trained last night for the first time since then but tonight’s encounter is thought to be probably too soon for him to return to the fray.

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The additional loss of Edgar and Houston will be offset somewhat by the inclusion of two-way forward Harry Gulliver from Manchester Storm and although the dynamic scoring duo of Brandon Whistle and Kieran Brown remain the most productive players he has on the ice at the moment, Whistle is keen to generate secondary scoring from elsewhere, to ease the burden.

“I liked what I saw of Philip up until the point he got injured in Telford and it was a big loss for us that night,” said Whistle.

“We were getting more scoring chances than they were and he was a big part of that, too, on that second line, creating some offensive chances and helping make Telford a little more tired.

“We were able to get in deep and cycle the puck and keep it down there and make them work for it.

“Then, all of a sudden, he’s done for the night – I thought it should have been a penalty – and you’ve got another guy who is out injured. We’ve already got enough players out, so we could have done without that.

“But we need to make sure we don’t get too down on ourselves about things. We have to stick together, stay positive and just keep working hard for each other. If we do that, I’m sure the wins will come again.”

Where the goals to secure that elusive win come from, Whistle isn’t fussy. He will take them any way they come.

“We need some secondary scoring, we really do,” added Whistle. “We kind of have the same guys scoring the goals right now.

“And where in that first month or so we had offensive input from all three lines, right now it is one line, so we’re going to need some guys to get in front of the net, screen goalies – just try and whack in some goals.

“We need a couple of rebound goals, some dirty goals, off a leg and in the net or something – we haven’t had any of those kind of goals for about three or four weeks and we need to get some of them from certain players.”

With Gospel not set to return anytime soon - Whistle would prefer him fuly recovered from his hamstring injury rather than risk a repeat - the Knights have plenty of options for their starting netminder at Ice Sheffield.

Tyler Perre, who came in on a two-way deal from Bristol Pitbulls in NIHL South One for the Telford games, could get the nod again, or Whistle may opt to give either Niks Trapans or Harrison Walker a chance.

Given the number of goaltenders the Knights have been forced to sign up so far this season, either to start or serve as a back-up for the one game - seven - there is always the possibility they could bring in somebody else entirely.

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