Photo by Ice Hockey Media - Colin Lawson
Whitley Warriors are pleased to announce that Player/Coach David Longstaff and his assistant Dave Holland have taken the decision to appoint 2 home alternate captains and 2 away alternate captains for the coming season as Warriors look to establish a strong leadership core at the club.
The alternate captains for home games will be Warriors summer signing import forward Andre Payette and local lad Jordan Barnes. Payette has a wealth of experience both in UK and North American hockey to call upon and he has previous leadership experience from his time as coach of the Sheffield Steeldogs in the English Premier League. Despite being only 22 Jordan has played well over 100 games for Warriors in his 6 years in and around the senior squad at Hillheads and his great enthusiasm and positive nature will be hugely beneficial to the entire Warriors roster.
For games on the road Warriors alternate captains will be close season capture Joe Stamp and the imposing blue liner Dan Pye. Joe signed for Whitley during the summer after serving in the armed forces for over a decade and the likeable defenceman shared his views on being appointed as one of Warriors ‘a’s.
“I was a little shocked when Dave (Holland) and Lobby (David Longstaff) told me about the role, just purely because I’m new with the team. I already know the majority of the players but have only played with a handful of them in the past.
“Since we’ve played two games now I feel more at home and I’m proud about my new role with the team. Fingers crossed I’ll do a good job.”
Warriors are next in action on Sunday September 6th at Hillheads when Whitley take on the Solway Sharks in the 1st game of the NIHL North regular season programme in what promises to be an end to end game of hockey between two of the divisions best sides.