IN A season littered with injuries, that same, never-ending issue dominates Ryan Aldridge’s thinking ahead of tonight’s NIHL National Cup Final against Sheffield Steeldogs.
Whether it be a season-ending blow or something which has deprived the Leeds Knights head coach of a key player for 2-3 weeks, it has not just rained down on him since early September, it has poured.
Heading into the first leg of the final in front of a sold-out Elland Road Ice Arena, Aldridge is facing game-day decisions on two key personnel - captain and leading point-scorer, Kieran Brown and import defenceman.
Both are recovering from upper-body injuries suffered at the weekend, Dunn in the first period of the 4-1 home defeat to Hull Seahawks on Friday and Brown before the first intermission in Saturday’s 5-3 loss at Solway Sharks.
“They are both obviously big players for us but they are both day-to-day and we’ll have to see how they are come the day of the game,” said Aldridge.
Despite the injury strains he has operated under this season, Aldridge has faith in a team that has often defied the odds when its backs have been against the wall.
“We’ve had our ups and downs this year, for lots of different reasons - obviously the main one is injuries, the injuries have been off the charts,” added Aldridge.
“We’ve still got some but I’m confident with the talent in that locker room and the ability in that locker room, that we can still get something done.
SHeffield Steeldogs v Leeds Knights
Steeldogs Nathan Ripley with Knights Sam Dunn.
Photograph by Tony Johnson. 31st December 2025.placeholder image
SHeffield Steeldogs v Leeds Knights Steeldogs Nathan Ripley with Knights Sam Dunn. Photograph by Tony Johnson. 31st December 2025.
“I’m just looking at it as a 120-minute hockey game and that we have to play for 120 minutes, not just 60.
“It doesn’t have to be won at home, it doesn’t have to be won straightaway - we’ve just got to come in and put in a performance.
“Going back to what we’ve got available, we’ve got to come into this first game knowing everyone has to give their best and see what we can achieve.”
For the Steeldogs, head coach Slava Koulikov won’t know until Thursday about the availability of a couple of players, with Jonathan Phillips and Nathan Ripley both missing from the weekend.
He expects to have Cole Shudra, Ivan Bjorkly-Nordstrom and Kyle Watson available after they were selected for the second leg of Sheffield Steelers’ Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Nottingham Panthers on Wednesday night.
Veteran defenceman Ben Morgan came through the weekend’s games against Romford Raiders without any issues from his recent injury lay-off and will also be in the line-up.
“Ben played all weekend and he feels good so he is definitely in the line-up,” confirmed Koulikov. “There are two or three other guys who have injuries and after we have another skate on Wednesday night, we’ll make final decisions after that.”
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