Image by Laura Holme
Whitley Warriors Head Coach Simon Leach has boosted his side’s defensive resources with the signing of South Shields born Dan Pye. Pye has a wealth of experience at ENL/NIHL level as he played for the Newcastle ENL Vipers for a number of years before a season with the Northern Stars in the Northern section of the league before moving south and linking up with the Wightlink Raiders were he has iced for the last 3 seasons in NIHL South.
Dan also has some experience of hockey at Elite level as the young d man made over 30 appearances for the Newcastle Vipers during the 2009/10 and 2010/11 campaigns. The 23 year old is generally regarded as a disciplined stay at home defenceman however he is still more than capable of picking up points at NIHL level as his tally of 10 points in the Southern Division 1 last term clearly illustrates.
Warriors Coach Simon Leach shared his thoughts on Warriors latest signing.
“We would like to welcome d man Dan Pye to our line up for the coming season as he returns to his native north east after a spell playing in NIHL South on the Isle of Wight with the Raiders coached by my old team mate Jeremey Cornish. Jeremey has nothing but good things to say about our new addition.
“Dan has an exceptional attitude for the game, he will fit into our ethos here at the club and I’m sure his physical style of play will be a hit with the Warriors faithful. He’s a solid stay at home defenceman who comes to play hard every night. He looks after his own end of the rink and can be a threat on the oppositions blue line.
“We now have an excellent mix of guys at the back and they’ll be our defensive core for next season.”
Dan also gave us his take on his switch to Whitley from the Isle of Wight.
“I decided to leave the Island for personal reasons as it didn’t feel like it was home any more so I came back up north. I’ve known Warriors Coach Simon Leach for a while now and as soon as he heard I was moving back home he was keen to sign me for Warriors.
“It took me a while to make up my mind as I was dealing with settling down after the big move but I eventually decided that signing for Warriors was the best decision for me.
“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season, I know all of the boys on the team and get along with them so it will be really nice to play with them. Also Simon is a good coach so I’ll have a great opportunity to learn from him. As ambitions for the season go I just want to win it’s as simple as that.”
Warriors roster for the 2014/15 season is now looking very well balanced as Whitley have 2 talented netminders, 6 top blue liners and an array of attacking talent ready for the coming campaign.