Leeds Knights expect dogfight with resurgent Hull Seahawks as they target return to top in NIHL National

The Knights were first toppled from their lofty perch last Thursday when Milton Keynes Lightning beat Raiders IHC on home ice to ensure it would in fact be they who would enjoy being the Christmas No 1.

It was a position they were unable to hang on to for long, however, replaced on Boxing Day night after Peterborough Phantoms beat 4-2 them in their own building.

Just 24 hours later, it was all change again with the Lightning getting their own back courtesy of a 6-2 triumph in Peterborough.Tonight, the Knights could regain first place if they overcome second-bottom Hull Seahawks.

And while at first sight that appears a guaranteed two points for the Knights, it is anything but, as Ryan Aldridge’s team head over to East Yorkshire to face a Hull team bang in form and determined to make up for what has essentially been lost time.

Two previous meetings have garnered four points for the Knights, following up a 4-1 home win in mid-November with a 6-1 win in Hull two weeks later.

Since then, the Seahawks have found a new lease of life, winning four straight before Wednesday night’s 5-1 defeat at Sheffield Steeldogs.

They have moved off bottom spot and are positioning themselves for a promising second half of the campaign buoyed, finally, by having imports Andrej Themar and Emil Svec in place and firing on all cylinders.

Seahawks’ coach Matty Davies, of course, needs no introduction to Knights fans, having spent last season at Elland Road, a campaign which saw him reunited with Aldridge, a coach he first played for at Swindon Wildcats back in 2007.

The Knights’ boss is expecting his players to come up against a very different animal in East Yorkshire tonight compared to the Seahawks team they faced there just over four weeks ago.

“I’m excited to play them, both for us and for them,” said Aldridge. “I think the team Matty put together in the summer obviously got people talking but they’ve had some very, very bad bounces with different things.

“But when you have two imports like Themar and Svec who can shoot the puck like they do, you are always going to be in with a chance of winning a hockey game every single night.

“They are also a hard-working hockey team and now they have some lethal weapons on top of that.”

Because of visa issues, neither of Hull’s import signings made it over before mid-November. Coupled with a never-ending injury list and the departure of other players, it meant a tough baptism of fire for all concerned at Hull.

Aldridge believes the testing experience will only serve Davies well in the long run.

“He’s definitely not going to go through another season like this one again is he,” added the Knights’ head coach. “If he can get through this one and still enjoy the role, then it is a massive learning curve for him, but in a positive way.

“It will have been very tough at times for him, his players and their supporters. Sometimes you have bad bounces that you’re in control of, but he hasn’t been able to control any of it, the kind of things that they have had to put up with.”

As a result of the issues the Seahawks have been forced to deal with in the first half of the campaign, Aldridge believes it will make them a fearsome opponent from now onwards.

“They are going to be tough to face,” he added. “Just the hunger that they will have from what they have been through - they are going to be a team that definitely makes other teams struggle every night.”

SHEFFIELD STEELDOGS bounced back from their defeat at Leeds Knights to run out deserved 5-1 winners over Hull Seahawks at Ice Sheffield to keep up the pressure on NIHL National’s top three.

No doubt smarting from their 4-0 defeat at Elland Road on Tuesday evening, Alex Graham and Cameron Brownley struck in the first period to put Greg Wood’s team firmly in control, the hosts strengthening their grip in the second 20 minutes with further strikes from Thomas Palmer and Jordan Buesa. Graham doubled his tally in the third before Nathan Salem grabbed a late consolation for the visitors against his former club.

The result sees the Steeldogs remain in fourth, seven points off Leeds and third-placed Peterborough Phantoms who are tied on 46 points, one adrift of current leaders Milton Keynes Lightning.