Why Leeds Knights’ coach Dave Whistle backs young defenceman Archie Hazeldine to prosper in NIHL National

One of the plus-points that stood out most for the 55-year-old Canadian was the way 17-year-old defenceman Archie Hazeldine acquitted himself during his first-ever taste of second-tier UK senior hockey.

Yes, there were mistakes and yes his inexperience showed occasionally but, by and large, Whistle believes the teenager had plenty to be proud of from the two games.

It was only earlier this year that the Nottingham-born blue liner got his first taste of senior hockey, added to the Nottingham Lions’ roster which contested two separate behind–closed-doors cup competitions.

That opportunity came after several years coming through the Nottingham junior system, producing a noticeable development which seems set to gather pace under Whistle in West Yorkshire.

“It was a big weekend for Archie, it was his first time playing at this level and I felt he played very well,” said Whistle.

“I know he made some mistakes on Sunday night and he knows that and we talked about it a little bit, but that’s what you want him doing.

“You obviously don’t want teams scoring on those mistakes but, at the same time, you want them to make mistakes so they learn from them and hopefully curb that.

“I feel he’s going to be a strong player for us, he skates with his head up, he makes good plays. On Sunday, I felt he probably held on to the puck a little too long a couple of times but that’s what happens.

“It’s just that they are faster, bigger and stronger guys that he’s coming up against and he’s going to learn that pretty quickly.

“But he’s a bright kid, a smart hockey player, so he’ll pick that sort of thing up quickly.”

While Whistle chopped and changed his defensive pairings across the two games against Swindon – he will aim for them to have a more settled look this weekend – his forward lines remained pretty rigid. And although he is contemplating changes among his top six forwards, one line is likely to remain untouched for Friday night’s visit of Sheffield Steeldogs to Planet Ice Leeds.

“I think we have probably six forwards that are interchangeable at the moment, then we have a line that was working really good,” added the former Belfast Giants and Cardiff Devils coach. “The (Jordan) Fisher, (Ethan) Hehir and (Joe) Coulter line did a real good job all night long and they got their reward with that goal from Jordan in the third.

“They do a great job penalty killing. You know what they are going to give you, they’re going to give you 100 per cent effort, they were good all weekend, but I felt they particularly played really well on Sunday.

“They had good scoring chances and they play well in their own end, so I’ll probably leave them alone right now, but I might change the other lines up a bit for next weekend and see how they play a little differently with one another.”