HockeyTalk - Sam Cooper interview - video Dailymotion

Yorkshire Post

Defenceman Sam Cooper discusses his decision to switch from Sheffield Steeldogs to NIHL National rivals Leeds Knights, his career ambitions and working under Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge

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00:00you're supposed dot co dot uk essentially why make the switch obviously you've had sort of

00:13a year and a half well what are we now almost two seasons at steel dog stoke street steelers

00:18you came you went there from a spell in north america um what's sort of prompted the the move

00:26to to leeds well i mean i i've loved every moment up until now with where i've been in america with

00:34where i've been of sheffield and um i think for me it's just um it's just that opportunity like um

00:43i'm really looking looking forward to being in such a successful team and hopefully bringing

00:49more silverware back to leeds i'd really like to to to do that with the team and and win i think

00:57that's really really what i would like to do yeah and you feel the move to leeds gives you the best

01:01opportunity to do that presumably i think so i mean from a personal perspective um i think the

01:07opportunity for me there is great but i think also if you look at leeds track record yeah there's

01:13nowhere better in that league like yeah i'm right in saying that leeds have won the league the last

01:17three years in a row yeah um like for me there's nowhere better than that okay you've you've come

01:24up against them numerous times obviously over the last uh over the last couple of seasons what what

01:30has impressed you most about the leeds team if i'm honest the way the way the players work off the

01:35park and support the park area is just it's like some well for us it's sometimes like seeing

01:41a different a different league being played because just structurally and that style of hockey i

01:47would love to play like um yeah i i think ryan as a coach um i i mean back back when i was young

01:54i played against him when he was coaching at oha and it was always the same there like he really

01:59really has those values of hardest working team often on the park and you can see that when you

02:05play against leeds um just your time at the steel dogs last season was a tough one for everyone

02:11really i know it was a sort of first season under new ownership um it's been better this year

02:15oh sorry sorry the season just finished not this year now um but just did you did you feel an

02:22improvement during the during the course of the second season at steel at steel dogs for yourself

02:25yeah for sure i mean like like i have like only good things to say about sheffield i've really loved

02:31my time here the last two years and uh especially especially working with aaron fox and the steelers that

02:37was that was really really good for me um and i have loved that um i think over the two years

02:44with the steel dogs there it's definitely been an improvement and i mean with them signing slava as

02:49well for three years yeah i think they show that continued um development i think um i think

02:55they will continue to improve as well and i think um yeah i like the last two years i've enjoyed but

03:02i think for me personally yeah the opportunity for me in leeds is is the best one and as a player

03:09obviously you're only 20 uh presumably you feel that you you still need to improve obviously you're

03:15not you know you're by no no one at this age is by by any means the finished article if any if any

03:20player ever is but you know by coming to leeds and working with ryan you you presumably feel that

03:24this is going to only help you improve more oh yeah for sure like i mean i think in the world of

03:30sport however you're old you are 20 30 even 35 or on the cost of retiring i think professional

03:37athletes always strive to be better and for me that's definitely something like every single day

03:42i want to see if i can be a percentage better and i think like i think working with ryan will be

03:49really really beneficial for me um i've spoken to so many people i've known from the past

03:54and everyone has everyone has great things to say about ryan i know ryan is a coach and i know

04:01i know he really has my development as like best interest um i know being in an environment where

04:08winning is such like it's there's so much pressure on leeds to win based on what they've done in the

04:14past i think i think that's going to be so good for me like that pressure to perform every day

04:19yeah um i also think like like you say i'm 20 i'm young my my goals and my my goals for the future

04:26are to play for the gb national team like kieran brown does um and i think that that is my goal and

04:33if you look with what ryan has done even i go back to cole schudger with uh sheffield so uh cole

04:39stepped away from sheffield and played played in leeds yeah and now he's on that gb national team so

04:45that is my that is my end goal to burn the national team yeah and i i see i i know i know i'm 20 i

04:52know i'm not 16 anymore but i see 20 is still early in my career and yeah and i i think like you say

05:00that development every single day has to be has to be the um the main focus i think i think for me

05:07that is like 100 i'm coming to leeds to to win everything that's what i would like to do and that's

05:14what i think we're capable of doing yeah but personally i think um developing every day may

05:20that be on the ice off the ice i think as a 20 year old like like that is something you have to

05:26be doing and thinking about you mentioned there about the pressure that that is on leeds having

05:31won the league three years in a row that pressure doesn't get any less does it is that part of the

05:37appeal is that is that something that as a player it sounds like you do but is it something as a player

05:42that you embrace that pressure that sort of level of expectation there is at leeds that perhaps at

05:47the moment there isn't there at steel dogs yeah 100 i mean if if i compare like leeds leeds play in

05:56big games every game they they sell out their building most of the time yeah they're playing

06:00the playoff finals they play in big high pressure situations and for me personally on my career i

06:07haven't played in too many games like that so far yeah i mean um we played in the playoffs of

06:12steel dogs this year but for me that's that's the most pressure we've had um i mean like looking back

06:17at the highlight as well the cup semi-final against leeds yeah that was that was probably the highest

06:22pressure i've played in yeah and for me personally i perform well under pressure i like the pressure

06:27yeah and i think um i think if you look at leeds all their games are high pressure if you're looking

06:34to win a league title for a fourth year running every game matters it will come up yeah it will

06:40come down every game and performance every day i think um that pressure to win win all three the cup

06:46the league and the playoffs i think that's the best place to be you're supposed dot co dot uk

HockeyTalk - Sam Cooper interview

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