Leeds Knights coach Ryan Aldridge on search for Cole Shudra replacement and the NIHL National season ahead

The puck drops on pre-season in just over a month’s time on September 9 when Leeds host Hull Seahawks in the first of a weekend double-header, which sees them make the hour-long trip East along the M62 the following night.

This year – no doubt due to the uncertainty over the Steeldogs – there will be no second pre-season derby double-header, Ryan Aldridge’s team instead welcoming league newcomers Solway Sharks into the second-tier throng by playing host to them on Saturday, September 16, less than 24 hours before a visit to the Dumfries Ice Bowl.

The curtain-raiser for the league comes on Friday night when Hull head to Peterborough Phantoms, with the rest of the league kick-starting their season the following evening.

Leeds get their league campaign underway on the road at Bristol Pitbulls on Saturday, September 23 before the two lock horns at Elland Road the following day.

The Knights first competitive derby of the season doesn’t come until October 15, when they host the Steeldogs, now under the guidance of player-coach Jason Hewitt following the surprise summer departure of Greg Wood and under the ownership of Sheffield Steelers’ owner, Tony Smith.

Seeing how hard Smith fought to buy out former owners Ali Cree and Roger Williams, what he does with the Steeldogs will be of widespread interest in the coming weeks and months, with many NIHL National followers remaining to be convinced about his reasons behind the purchase of a team less than two years on from celebrating a Cup and play-offs double.

The first visit for the Knights to Ice Sheffield comes on Tuesday, October 24, while they don’t lock horns with the Seahawks for the first time in the regular season until late November, the first of the six-game derby series taking place in West Yorkshire on Saturday, November 25.

Leeds visit Hull for the first time just before Christmas on December 23.

Now their diaries and calendars have been filled in accordingly, Knights’ fans will be hoping for some positive news on the signing front, particularly with Aldridge still having to fill the large gap left by Cole Shudra’s untimely departure.

It has left a big hole in the Knights’ forward firepower, with very few players – if any – currently available and in possession of the kind of skillset that made Shudra such a crucial part of the Knights’ success in 2022-23.

Clearly, replacing the 117 points posted by Shudra last season will take some doing, but his departure does offer opportunities for others to step up and make themselves a stronger offensive asset.

"Losing Cole when we did came at such a bad time,” said Aldridge. “If we’d known it was coming, then I would probably have built my team differently over the summer.

"But, it’s happened and we are constantly on the lookout for a suitable replacement – there just aren’t any out there at the moment.

"We know who we’re playing and when and we’ll be ready come that first league game at Bristol. I know we’ve still got a cracking bunch of players here.”