Leeds Knights: Import duo Grant Cooper and Zach Brooks making promising first impressions on and off the ice
HE may only be 26 himself, but already Grant Cooper is displaying the kind of leadership qualities that made Leeds Knights sign him in the first place.
In a team with an average age of just 21.3, Cooper is expected to offer guidance to his younger team-mates, having plenty more experience behind him, including a promising season for Reading Royals in the ECHL last time out.
He arrived in the UK with an impressive resume and while not prolific in terms of scoring, he has made a noticeable impact in pre-season for Ryan Aldridge’s team, scoring seven goals.
But it is as much for his impact off the ice that he was brought in by Aldridge, assuming the kind of leadership role he is happy to embrace.
"You can always talk the talk but sometimes you’ve got to walk the walk, like the old saying goes,” said Cooper ahead of today’s NIHL National opener at Elland Road against defending regular season champions Telford Tigers like the old saying goes.
"I think it’s case of just motivating the younger guys and making sure they are not getting down on themselves because it’s going to be a long year and they just have to take everything in their stride.
"I’m just here to be as positive as I can, take the good things and move forward each and every day. This already seems to be a pretty tight-knit group here – everybody seems to be gelling well together, working hard in practice and we’ve just got to make sure we improve every day.”
As for Aldridge, he is more than happy with his import additions, Cooper joined on the roser by fellow Canadian Zach Brooks. Pre-season saw the duo paired with centre Cole Shudra, a line that is expected to remain in place for the first weekend.
"They are exactly how I was told they would be,” said Aldridge. “There is always a risk when players come into the league and how they may or may not adapt.
“But they’ve jumped into everything with both feet and they each bring something different to the team. They play hard, they back-check hard, they do all the little things right - just out and out proper hockey players.
"They are both phenomenal people, too which, again, is exactly what people said to me when I was doing my research on them. They’ve gone into the locker room and shown a little bit of leadership already, which is exactly what I wanted.”