Newcastle Vipers

Mincoffs Vipers can confirm that defenseman Chris McAllister will be out for a minimum of 2 weeks to rest a broken foot that he had picked up a few weeks a go.

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The Mincoffs Vipers Official Shop has announced special prices for the forthcoming White-out at Whitley Bay on all “White” Merchandise items.

Home Jerseys are the biggest price saving with ALL SIZES of home jersey priced at £29, a saving of £20 on Adult sizes.

White Sweatshirts will be reduced to £10 (A saving of £9)

White Winter Hats now only £5 (A saving of £2) 

& Finally special White Vipers Flags are only £2!!!!

The White-Out Specials are available on Sat 3rd Jan ONLY from the Vipers Official Shop, 16 Shakespeare Street, Newcastle (Open from 10am) and at the Vipers Merchandise Stall at Whitley Bay - doors open 3.30pm with a 4.30pm Face Off.

Following a disappointing weekend at the hands of the Manchester Phoenix the Mincoffs Vipers are determined to rebound quickly and this weekends Knockout Cup tie with the Edinburgh Capitals is the perfect opportunity.

Late December saw the Vipers pick up form with 9 of an available 12 points before the double defeat to the Phoenix making the first weekend of the New Year all the more vital to return to winning ways. Vipers player-coach Rob Wilson is fully aware of the Knockout Cup importance, “The Knockout Cup weekend is a crucial weekend for us to get back to form and start the New Year in the right way, it’s a competition that with a win this weekend will take us straight to the semi-finals and that’s the kind of physiological boost we really need at the moment”.

With this weekends game being played at Whitley Bay Ice Rink we really need the fans to get behind the team and help give us that extra boost to overcome the Edinburgh Capitals in the Knockout Competition. We want to create a white-out at Whitley Bay explained GM Jaimie Longmuir, “We are asking all the fans to come wearing as much as WHITE as possible to create a White-Out at Whitley Bay. The opportunity to progress in this cup competition is massive and we cannot highlight its importance enough”.

Vipers “White” Merchandise will also be on sale at reduced prices including:

            Home Replica Jerseys

White Winter Hats

            White Flags

            White Baseball Caps

            White Sweatshirts

Tickets for this Saturday’s game at Whitley Bay, Face off 4.30pm, are still on sale from the Vipers Shop, 16 Shakespeare Street, Newcastle, by telephone on 0191 261 0909, and online at www.vipershockey.co.uk  

The Mincoffs Vipers are delighted to confirm that Player / Head Coach Rob Wilson will have a testimonial match this season in recognition for his fantastic service to the sport of ice hockey here in the North East and the UK.

Love him or hate him Rob certainly deserves respect for his fantastic dedication and commitment to the British Game since first entering the UK in 1989.  Rob is a determined in your face player and coach who demands and expects the best of himself, team mates and players at all times and is this attitude which has helped Rob achieve great success during his career.

Over the past few seasons many players have received testimonial matches in recognition of there contribution to the game but there are few more deserving of such a match than Rob.  In a career that has spanned over 20 years Rob will officially hang up his skates at the end of the current 2008/2009 season.

Rob first entered the UK in 1989 with Swindon before moving on to the Sheffield Steelers where he enjoyed fantastic success capturing a host of silverware and becoming club captain.  Rob then joined the Newcastle Jesters before moving on to the Manchester Storm before returning to the North East with the Newcastle Vipers.  During his time here in the UK Rob has also represented the GB National Program at the top level for many years and is now assistant coach of the program – an accomplishment he is extremely proud of.

Rob will be most recently remembered for his work in the North East with the Newcastle Vipers where he is currently player, head coach and owner.  Co-owner Paul Ferone has nothing but admiration for his former team mate and business partner “if any individual deserves recognition for his dedication to the sport its definitely Rob – over the past few years he has sacrificed so much and worked extremely hard to raise the profile of ice hockey within the North East.  If not for Rob I doubt there would be any hockey in the North East – he has really worked hard to ensure we lay the foundations to keep ice hockey in the North East for many years to come”

During his time with the Vipers Rob was helped the club achieve great success including the Findus Cup in the BNL and most recently the Elite Playoff Championship in 2006.  Perhaps his greatest achievement though is consolidating the Vipers franchise in the North East providing a strong foundation for the club to move forward and achieve further success for many years to come. 

Rob will be thought of in different forms by many but one thing no can dispute is the fantastic service he has given British Ice Hockey over the past 10 years.  Rob is a very passionate individual with a strong drive to win and succeed at all costs and it is perhaps this attitude which enables him to speak his mind with brutal honesty.  One of the best defencemen we have seen in British Ice Hockey Rob is a true legend deserving of support.

Willy’s All Stars will take on the North East All Stars which will include players from the past and present at the Metro Radio Arena on Wednesday 25^th February 2009, face off 7.15pm. 

“I am very proud to have a testimonial match and I am really looking forward to seeing so many people who have helped me throughout my career in the UK.  I have been lucky to play for some great clubs in great cities here in the UK including Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester and I look forward to suiting up with some familiar faces who I am sure the fans will be happy to see and also the fans themselves who have been great to me over the years.  I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have played Ice Hockey professionally and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with all clubs in the UK and I look forward to moving forward with the Vipers here in the North East”

Details of all players participating in this special match will be released over the next month.  Don’t miss out on this special match which will celebrate a glittering career whilst joining together past and present greats from the British Game.  Tickets for this special match will be priced at £9 Adult, £7 Concession and £5 Child and will be on sale from Saturday 3^rd January 2009.  Tickets available from Vipers Hockey, 16 Shakespeare Street, Newcastle, at the sales desk in the arena foyer on match nights, Tel: 0191 261 0909 or www.vipershockey.co.uk

Manchester Phoenix 3 Mincoffs Vipers 2

Two goals for Todd Griffith, making 16 for the season

Mincoffs Vipers are this weekend offering massive savings on all Vipers Merchandise. With 25% savings on all Vipers merchandise items as well as huge savings on ice hockey equipment including skates, sticks, leg guards and much much more.

The Vipers Store (16 Shakespeare Street, Newcastle) is open 10am till 4pm on Sat 27th Dec, and 12noon till 4pm on Sun 28th Dec.

Following this weekends sale the shop will also be open as follows for the remainder of the festive period:
Mon 29th - 10am till 4pm
Tue 30th - 10am till 4pm
Wed 31st - 10am till 3pm
Thu 1st - CLOSED
Fri 2nd - CLOSED
Sat 3rd - 10am till 3pm
Sun 4th - 12noon till 4pm

The staff and players at Mincoffs Vipers would like to wish all of their fans and sponsors a very Merry Christmas.

We look forward to seeing you at Metro Radio Arena on Saturday 27 December when the Vipers take on Manchester Phoenix (face off 4.30pm).  The game is followed by the auction of the players’ Christmas jerseys as well as the Childrens’ Christmas Party.

The Mincoffs Vipers in association with club coach travel providers and title sponsor of the Vipers Fanzone, Tynedale Group Travel will this weekend give something back to the fans.

This week will see the Mincoffs Vipers play the Manchester Phoenix in a double header, the away leg being played in Manchester on Boxing Day, followed by the home leg the next night (Sat 27th) at the Metro Radio Arena. Now courtesy of Tynedale Group Travel these games will not only be fiercely contested bmiBaby Elite League encounters but the teams will also battle it our for the Tynedale Group Travel Christmas Cup. 

The winner of the cup will be the team with the best aggregate score over the two legs. Andy Sinclair of Tynedale commented, “We are delighted to support the team and the Vipers Fanzone and with the Boxing Day weekend games always a fan favourite the opportunity to add extra sparkle with this best of two leg cup will hopefully make the weekend even more exciting for the fans.” 

Don’t forget the home game this Saturday has the early face-off time of 4.30pm with the team playing in our Limited Edition Christmas Jerseys. The auction of these jerseys will take place at the period intervals with your chance to get your favourite players jersey straight off the players back at the end of the game.

So we had a four point weekend to take into the Christmas break, and I am led to believe it’s our first two-win weekend of the season.

ROB WILSON: happy with four-point weekend

Everyone knows I wasn’t happy after our Coventry loss, I don’t think one player had played anywhere near their potential, and that certainly included me.

Coming back from a few days in Canada and going in against the top team in their own barn was certainly a tough assignment to return to.

However, we decided to keep the game very simple in Sheffield and concentrate on doing just five simple things, but doing them very well for sixty minutes.

The major thing on the list was to limit the odd-man rushes against us, and I think in the whole game we gave up just two - that’s a big part of why we beat Sheffield.  They are a very pretty team, and like to score nice looking goals; they don’t like driving to the net and battling for the garbage goals.

We limited them to shots from the outside and gave Andrew Verner a good sight of the shots coming in - and when Verns sees the shots he invariably saves them, he put in another great shift for us on Saturday.

At the other end of the ice, the link-up with Eddie and Jeff Hutchins is proving very productive, as we thought and hoped it would.  The pair of them linked up very well in Belfast, and now Eddie is back in game shape he is showing what he can do.

Sunday’s win over Hull wasn’t a great game, but regardless of the opposition and their playing strength we played well and kept doing our simple things; the players are now starting to buy in to what I want and it shows in this weekend’s results.

We now move on to Manchester for a double header, and at the least I want to split the series but there’s no reason why we can’t win both.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Arena on Saturday and if you’re making the trip to Manchester we’ll see you there too!

From myself thanks to everyone for their support at home and away this season, and I wish you a very happy Christmas.

Rob Wilson