Leeds Knights: League and Cup frustration proved driving force behind NIHL National play-off glory

The Knights ensured a fourth straight season of success when they staged a stunning comeback in the last five minutes of their final against Hull Seahawks to run out 5-3 winners at the SkyDome Arena.

It maintained the team’s record of having lifted at least one trophy in each of the last four seasons under head coach Ryan Aldridge.

And it has come somewhat against the odds, in light of the roster shortages the Knights have faced in recent weeks due to injuries and, in the past two weeks, call-ups for the GB Under-18s world championship campaign in Romania.

But it was the pain of watching the two trophies won in the 2024-25 season that provided some of the inspiration for their latest success.

First they had to watch as Swindon Wildcats - losing semi-finalists to Hull Seahawks in Coventry - celebrated winning the regular season title the Knights had made their own for the previous three years.

Then, just four nights later, they were on the ice when the Sheffield Steeldogs inherited their National Cup crown after Bair Gendunov struck a late overtime winner at Ice Sheffield.

Brown was sidelined through injury for both games but was on the Knights’ bench watching on.

It was those disappointments, he said, which helped fuel the desire not to miss out when it came to the post-season.

Avenging their cup final loss to the Steeldogs in Saturday’s play-off semi-final, combined with edging out the Seahawks in the final a little over 24 hours later, probably made the success in Coventry taste even sweeter.

“I didn’t play but even just to watch them lifting the Cups, it hurt,” said Brown. “So I think we did use that as motivation.

“But these were two great games, I think, against two good teams, both games were effectively one-goal differences. It was really good hockey all weekend and it came right down to the wire.”

Brown said the dramatic conclusion to Sunday’s thrilling, winner-takes-all derby final was something he had not experienced previously, but was pleased with the way the Knights were able to stay level-headed and see the game out, given the way events unfolded.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life,” said the 25-year-old Knights’ captain. “Honestly unbelievable, I’m almost speechless.

“I think you can get ahead of yourself (in those situations), but then Ryan does a good job of keeping us level-headed. To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on, but we got the job done and that is all that matters.

“We’re clearly going in the right direction. The people behind the scenes, you don’t really see what goes on, it all just makes things a lot easier. It speaks for itself, we’ve won trophies every year now and it feels really great.”

Brown, Gospel and Edgars Vengis are three of several players confirmed as coming back for the 2026-27 season, with defencemen Bailey Perre and Bow Neely along with forward Finley Bradon also on board.

With the number of imports expected to increase to five for the 2026-27 campaign, Aldridge will already have been on who of the existing overseas players he wishes to retain, as well as sifting through a large number of playing resumes which will have already landed in his inbox from various agents.