Sam Cooper confident Leeds Knights can overturn final deficit against former club Sheffield Steeldogs
SAM COOPER insists the NIHL National Cup Final is very much alive as Leeds Knights prepare to overturn a two-goal deficit against his former team Sheffield Steeldogs.
The Knights trail 3-1 after the first leg in Leeds on February 26, a scoreline enhanced late on for the visitors when Bair Gendunov scored a sublime penalty shot 15 seconds from the end.
It gives defending Cup champions Leeds a mountain to climb at Ice Sheffield in Wednesday’s second leg, but one defenceman Cooper is convinced they can scale.
“This tie is definitely still alive,” said Cooper. “Playing my old team Sheffield, it is great to have that opportunity and going in there with the team that we have, we’re perfectly capable of getting a good result - ho knows what can happen.
“We’re two goals down, but it is completely do-able going into that building.”
Cooper spent two seasons at the Steeldogs on a two-way with the Elite League’s Sheffield Steelers before making the switch to Leeds last summer.
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He has been impressed by the improvement made under head coach Slava Koulikov this season - the Steeldogs are tied with Leeds and Hull in the race for second place in the league - but he is determined to get one over on his former team.
And while the main target of the league has now gone, an aggregate win over the Steeldogs would align with the winning mentality he discussed with Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
“Sheffield are a very good team, I can’t take that away from them and I still have lots of friends there,” he added. “But we’re definitely going to give them a run for their money.
“When I spoke with Ryan last summer about coming to Leeds, winning that league title was everything and that’s what I want to do.
“That is what Leeds as an organisation is all about - it’s about winning.”