Leeds Knights - 'Raw talent' of Innes Gallacher sees him make immediate impact in NIHL National

A quick glance down the Knights’ roster and it is obvious to see that Aldridge possesses some of the most talented youngsters in the country, most of which played an integral role in delivering an NIHL National league and play-off double last season.

It’s hard to believe that OIi Endicott - a player so often the engine room of his team - is still only 19, defencemen Bailey Perre and Tommy Spraggon the same age. Finn Bradon is just 18, as is back-up netminder Luca Tessadri, while Gregor Mills looking to follow in the footsteps of those others - is only 17.

Bow Neely is only 20, Dylan Hehir 21, while assistant captain Jordan Griffin has only just celebrated his 22nd birthday.

Add to that list of players with a bright future, Innes Gallacher.

The 19-year-old Scottish forward was not on anyone’s radar south of the border come the start of the 2023-24 campaign.

He may have been ripping it up with hometown team Kilmarnock Thunder in the SNL - where he has so far plundered 25 goals and eight assists in just 11 games.

But it wasn’t until a phone call between former Leeds Knights’ centre Joe Coulter - now player-coach at Widnes Wild - and Gallacher’s coach at Kilmarnock, Andy Anderson, that the opportunity for Gallacher to try his luck in England first arose.

His impact in Cheshire was immediate, Gallacher - who had scored five goals against Blackburn Hawks in a pre-season friendly - scoring a hat-trick on his Wild debut.

Due to the close working relationship established last year between Leeds and Widnes, it wasn’t long before Coulter was pushing the youngster in Aldridge’s direction.

The Knights’ coach has been grateful ever since, the teenager making an immediate impression.

To date, he has made 10 appearances, posting two goals and one assist. But it is not the numbers that Aldridge is focussing on, more the bright future that Gallacher has in front of him, given his obvious attributes.

“He’s been a breath of fresh air,” said Aldridge. “He’s a great kid and is a team-first hockey player. He’s a big strong lad who goes out and plays hard.

“After watching the GB Under-20s hockey team at the end of last year, for me he’d be a top two line player on that team - I can’t believe he didn’t make the squad.

“So somehow he has been in hiding but luckily we’ve been able to get him over here.

“Joey told me that I had to have a look at him and I loved him from the first moment I saw him in practice.

“He’s got a bright future ahead of him and with his size and his strength he’s going to go a long way. The next couple of years will be key for him, he needs a bit of work but he’s definitely a raw talent.”

Gallacher will be with the Knights again on Sunday when they host Telford Tigers. That comes after two games on the road, the first of which takes them to Romford to face Raiders before tomorrow’s clash at third-placed Swindon Wildcats.

Coulter says there is more young talent north of the border in the SNL that doesn’t get the recognition it merits, mainly for geographical reasons.

It is a seam he has been happy to mine, making the most of connections he made while playing for hometown team Solway Sharks before he moved to Yorkshire with Leeds Chiefs in the summer of 2019.

Including Gallacher, Coulter currently has seven Scottish teenagers on two-way deals who have played NIHL One North hockey.

“Innes was scoring goals for fun up there in the SNL, I mean like five or six goals a game and that isn’t a normal thing in that league,” said Coulter.

“So I think he just needed that opportunity south of the border to kind of express himself.

“It was about giving him the platform down here and we gave it to him and in his first game he scored a hat-trick for us. It was like ‘wow’.

“People just don’t really look for players that far north. I got lucky with my opportunity to come down here to Leeds a few years ago but there is so much talent up there.

“And when you get a talent like Innes - the juice is worth the squeeze if you like.”