Leeds Knights: Great expectations rise as Leeds settle in among early pace-setters

Four games into the 2022-23 NIHL National campaign and the Knights sit top of the standings, along with Milton Keynes Lightning one of only two teams remaining with a 100 per cent record.

Already people are looking forward to October 21 when the rivals meet at Elland Road Ice Arena, the first of six regular season meetings between the two, who finish their campaign with a double weekend against each other at the start of April.

At some point, both will experience the bitter taste of defeat – most likely before next month’s encounter – and it is how his young Knights react to that moment that Aldridge is keen to observe.

“We’ve talked about staying level-headed and not letting anything get out of control,” said Aldridge following Tuesday morning’s Elland Road practice session.

“We’re obviously going to lose at some point and for me the biggest thing will be how we as a group of players handle that first loss.

“Everyone on the outside is probably going to want to beat us now, probably for the rest of the year because we’ve had such a good start.

“Anything can happen, it’s obviously very early in the season and it can all change pretty quickly.”

The Knights have an average age of 21.55 on their roster this season - by contrast two years younger than last season - but Aldridge believes he has recruited and retained enough seasoned campaigners to ensure the more youthful elements of his team don’t get ahead of themselves following their promising start.

The likes of club captain Sam Zajac and goaltender Sam Gospel were already in place, while the likes of skipper Kieran Brown, Cole Shudra, Adam Barnes, Lewis Baldwin, Ethan Hehir and Jordan Griffin will be better for having had the ups and downs of a full season of second-tier hockey behind them.

Throw into the mix the arrival of seasoned centre Matt Haywood on the back of 11 years in the Elite League at Glasgow Clan and North American import duo Grant Cooper and Zach Brooks and it already has the makings of a team well-equipped to deal with both the highs and the lows.

“We have the right guys in that locker room,” he added.

“It’s easy to get excited, isn’t it, especially when you’re a bit younger and haven’t been through these situations before. But, in two weeks’ time, we could be sitting here talking about us being in a completely different position - we just can’t afford to get over-excited. It’s about managing ourselves.”

An example of his team’s ability to deal with pressure came in last weekend’s double-header against Peterborough Phantoms, from which they emerged with all four points.

"The scorelines probably don’t really reflect either game, to be honest,” explained Aldridge. “Peterborough came out really hard – especially on Sunday. To come away with a point even in Peterborough is always good, so to come away with the win was a fantastic effort. I felt the boys played solid for 120 minutes.”