Newcastle Vipers

Paul King aka UncleKingy previews the season for the Vipers

This season’s Newcastle Vipers are completely and utterly different from those of the last 8 years. Newcastle Vipers? Try Whitley Bay. Metro Radio Arena? Well, no. We aren’t going back there. Rob Wilson as Owner/Coach? Gone. Our imports? You guessed it, they’re not coming back, not even one. In fact, apart from the off ice staff, there are only two names left that are identifiable from last year’s squad- bit part players Jamie Tinsley and the promising Nathan Salem.
Along the way, there have been many ups and downs, the company running the club has been folded and a new one started- quietly, carefully, without any of the hoo-hah down in Sheffield, so as hardly anyone even noticed. Paddy O’Connor, former Vipers pied piper is back in charge to restore some charisma and charm to the club’s front end. The Vipers have separated entirely from their academy and ENL sides (now known as the Northern Stars), the fan-base is down to an all-time low, with only the newest and most hard of core fans surviving in last years arctic conditions faces with insipid hockey played by a spineless team and a coach fresh out of ideas and enthusiasm, this could be the last chance the Vipers have to get things right throughout the organization. Lessons seem to have been learned, the club has been re-born in almost every way imaginable and there’s a clean plan in place to boost those crowd numbers.
On the ice, there’s good news too. Danny Stewart, for years a thorn in Viper sides at Coventry Blaze has come north to become the player coach of the Whitley Bay side. He’s brought with him a refreshing honesty, a transparency and a bit of energy that seemed lost on the weary and mumbling Rob Wilson. He makes no bold promises, he doesn’t bother us with details of who he might have signed or wanted to sign, or had a conversation with in 1983. He waits, he signs, he announces. No messing around.
“A new broom sweeps clean,” they say and Danny has done exactly that- all the old guard who may have resisted his arrival or railed against change have gone- Longstaff has disappeared off to Guildford, taking the super-quick Ben Campbell with him. “The Walkergate Warrior” Dean Holland has walked off to Manchester and Even shop manager Mark Gouett has not returned, which is probably just as well- his shop has not returned either.
So who exactly IS playing for the Vipers this year and will any of you readers have heard of them? Well, in short, no, you probably haven’t heard of many of them and neither have I. One name you may know is Paul Sample, out of retirement and on the ice, bringing some experience and grit to our new pack of British youngsters the coach has declared his intention to play. Around him are Whitley Bay trained Rob Wilson (no, not that Rob Wilson), a small but feisty D man who iced for Vipers back in the BNL, Sam Zajac, a highly regarded skillful attacking D man and the aforementioned forwards Nathan Salem, Jamie Tinsley and finally, back up netminder Liam McAllister. By no means the old guard of Weaver, Longstaff, Johnson and co, this group of Brits at least have some potential for development, but we will certainly be relying on our imports to bring the thunder.
And who are these imports you may ask? Well, two of them are yet to sign, but by and large we have signed young, hungry, tough imports who will attempt to bully the life out of anyone with the guts to step out onto Whitley Bay ice. We will lack finesse, we may lack some goals, but we are aiming to make up for it in organization, commitment and sheer enthusiasm of young players fresh from college or the first couple of years as pros, rather than the tired old never-weres of yesteryear. It may pay off.
I’m particularly intrigued by new netminder Charlie Effinger (so much so that I remembered his name without checking) who seems to have taken his old club, Missouri Mavericks by storm. Fans genuinely gutted to see him leave talk about his inspired performances, open and friendly personality and his contribution to the franchise. He posted the second best numbers in College hockey two years ago and has a lot of potential. Signing a young netminder can go either way, as Viper fans saw with old slow glove Ryan McDonald a few years back, so I’ll be watching this one closely.
Our defence is full of no-nonsense, hard-hitting bangers, who will grind the soul from the opposition’s fancy forwards with any luck. None seem more impressive than Scott Langdon, powerful player who hits like John Prescott, blots out the sun with his size and does not mess about in his own end. Joining him will be the quicker and more skillful Kyle Sibley, a 26 year-old fresh out of a breakout season in Norway, where he finished second among defensemen on points. 6 foot 3 inch Blair Stayzer is another bruising D man with no hesitation to punch the opposition around the mouth when things don’t go well, contributing to Stewart’s much talked about “team toughness”. John Schwarz is another member of Team 6’3”, coming in from Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL, much like Stayzer, he comes with the promise of being a steady, tough, no-nonsense player who will hand out free punches to anyone who asks, though again, it’s not his main aim in life.
Up front, the star turn so far is expected to be Polish pointscorer Jaroslaw Rzeszutko who, at 23, notched 29 times in 48 games last season, adding 31 assists. Stewart describes him as a “genuine international class forward”, and we are going to need him to be just that.
Danny Stewart describes 27-year old Jaimie Carroll, a right winger from Bloomington Prairie Thunder as the club’s new go-to guy, citing an 80 point season as good evidence of his eye for goal and all-round offensive capabilities, 205 points (79+126) in three seasons in the IHL backs this up.
From the University of Alberta comes 6 foot, 200lb Dale Mahovsky, who at 25 is entering his first year as a pro with the Vipers. Playing his junior hockey with Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey league he averaged just under a point a game in his last last three seasons, his best season coming in 2004-05 when he had 71 points and 112 penalty minutes. He also won a championship, the Memorial Cup, with the Kootenay Ice in 2001-02. He plays as a winger or as a centre and will work hard all over the ice.
Another 6 foot forward who plays wing and centre is Canadian Thunder Bay native Dan Speer, turning pro with the Vipers on 199 points (65+134) from his college career at Lakehead University. Quoted as having turned down a better offer from another EIHL club, Speer came to the Vipers to “play with character guys”, and we are happy to have him.
Of course, there’s Stewart himself, who is to play third line and coach the game from there, assisted by bench coach Dave Holland. Danny will bring his skill, his tenacity and his boundless enthusiasm to the ice, which will certainly be an improvement on most of last year’s team.
Lots of young, enthusiastic players throughout the team with size, speed and drive should mean that for once, the Vipers manage to play committed and vibrant hockey all season long and not just until Christmas, something the fans certainly crave. Another thing some fans crave is a fighter, and many will be hoping that one of the remaining two forward slots goes to a crazy man with a thirst for hitting and being hit until someone falls over.
Vipers prospects this season- hard to tell. We should give a reasonable account of ourselves and play some entertaining hockey with some big hits rocking the old rafters of Whitley Bay Ice rink. I think most Viper fans will be happy with that. Maybe we will have a run at a cup or the playoffs, but I expect little more than for us to play hard every night and have a rock steady 500 at home. That’ll do for starters, to get the Vipers show back on the road and lets face it, the league is Belfast’s to lose!

1. Belfast
2. Coventry
3. Cardiff
4. Nottingham
5. Sheffield
6. Braehead
7. Newcastle
8. Dundee
9. Edinburgh
10. Hull