Leeds Knights v Hull Seahawks: Matt Bissonnette finding his groove after summer switch from Sheffield Steeldogs

Last season in particular was a chastening experience, his then team Sheffield Steeldogs, losing all six league encounters against their Yorkshire rivals, who went on to secure their second successive regular season title.

For Bissonnette and his team-mates, it was a forgettable campaign, one that saw the team miss out on the post-season for the first time in the NIHL National era.

A long-planned overhaul by the Steeldogs’ ownership took place during the summer, but Bissonnette had already attracted interest from a number of clubs, eventually striking a deal to head north to West Yorkshire in order to help the Knights try and secure a third league crown.

So far, that plan is going well, the Knights entering this weekend’s eagerly-anticipated double-header against Hull Seahawks ahead of all their NIHL National rivals. But, only just.

Nobody expects it to be easy for the Knights to retain their title, not least those in the Elland Road locker room.

But in just the few short weeks that he has been in his new surroundings, Bissonnette has seen enough to reassure him that they will be among the leading contenders once again.

“We’re happy generally with the start we’ve made,” said Bissonnette, the first eight games bringing six wins and two defeats.

“Obviously you want to win every game but that’s just not realistic. But we’re really stressing on making sure that we’re playing the right way and when we’re playing the right way, we’re a tough team to play against.

“Playing against these guys the past 2-3 years, I know they worked hard and having now had first-hand experience of being on the team, when we’re working hard it’s fun to be a part of and it is tough for other teams to play us.”

To say Bissonnette has settled in quickly would be something of an understatement.

He leads the point-scoring for the team so far, living up to his pre-season billing by coach Ryan Aldridge as a pass-first player, 10 of his 15 points being made up of assists, leaving him eighth overall in the league.

Make no mistake, during the course of his career, Bissonnette has had little trouble finding the net, but it is his ability to bring others into play that was the major attraction for Aldridge.

For his part, Bissonnette is happy playing for a coach who wears his heart on his sleeve at times.

“Ryan’s got us playing good hockey and I can’t say enough good things about him,” added Bissonnette.

“It’s fun to play for a coach that is as passionate as Ryan. He’s almost playing with us back there, so it’s nice to have somebody on the bench that’s pushing us in the right direction and, yeah, my expectations coming in here have been more than met.

“These guys are a younger team, a faster team. Ryan had everybody on a programme this summer and that is something I took seriously. It obviously took a few weeks to get up to speed - they play a lot faster than we did in Sheffield - but I think I’m up there and I’m finding my groove.”

This weekend brings Bissonnette up against a number of former team-mates, now plying their trade in East Yorkshire, where he spent the 2019-20 season playing for Hull Pirates.

Jason Hewitt, Lee Haywood, James Spurr and Dmitri Zimozdra are all Steeldogs team-mates from last season, while Lee Bonner and Seahawks coach Matty Davies are former team-mates from the 2019-20 season with the Pirates.

They have exchanged pleasantries already during pre-season - both games being won by Hull - but Bissonnette expects any future meetings to be less forgiving.

“I’d say more of my old Sheffield team-mates are in Hull now!,” laughed the 32-year-old left-hander.

“It was a little more friendly in pre-season than I’m sure it’s going to be during the regular season, but it was good to see everybody again.”