Emotional times but Haywood keen to depart Knights on perfect high

Regardless of whatever happens on Sunday, it is going to be an emotional night at Elland Road Ice Arena.

- by Phil Harrison

The hope for Leeds Knights fans is that they will be celebrating their team's passage through to the NIHL National Play-off Final Four weekend at Coventry's SkyDome Arena-where they will be one step closer to landing an unprecedented treble.

But there is one other reason why Sunday evening will be a tear-filled occasion for the vast majority of the people inside 'The Castle'.

After three hugely successful years, the final Group A play-off clash against Peterborough Phantoms will be Matt Haywood's final game in front of a home crowd.

Having played a major role in the team winning three league titles, a play-off crown and, finally, earlier this year, a National Cup, the popular 34-year-old will be hanging up his skates.

Haywood's exit will leave a huge hole on the Knights' roster for the 2025-26 campaign, but his legacy will last for a long time.