NEWCASTLE,U.K- Elite league Newcastle Vipers have added Warren Tait and Jeff Hutchins to their roster after the Tyneside club had a mixed start to the season. Both players have played for Vipers before, Tait played four games for Vipers at the start of the current campaign as cover for the late arriving Rob Rankin while Hutchins spent 2007-08 in a Vipers Shirt.
The signing of Hutchins will get a mixed response from Vipers fans as he didn’t live up to expectations in his first spell in the North East. Hutchins posted 43 points (17+26) from the 47 games he iced last year however he wasn’t fully fit for a large part of the campaign and it will be hoped that he can return to the form he has previously shown in the UK for both Coventry Blaze and Belfast Giants.
Hutchins led Belfast Giants scoring in 2006-07 contributing 72 points with 38 goals coming from the 59 games played. Hutchins spent the 2005-06 season in Coventry where he posted a total of 45 points from the 48 games he iced. Hutchins picked up over 180 penalty minutes in both of these campaigns illustrating that at his best he can rack up the points while still getting under the oppositions skin.
Hutchins spent the early part of this season with the Bracknell Bees in the EPL however after Bees mediocre start to the season player coach Adam Bicknell decided he needed to change things round and Hutchins was allowed to leave the Hive. Hutchins individual form had been steady picking up nine points from the nine games he iced for the Bees. The forward then headed to Scotland to play for the Edinburgh Capitals on a short-term deal Hutchins managed to pick up eight points from his six game stint in the Scottish capital. Hutchins enjoyed good form against his former side the Newcastle Vipers and his two goal game at the Metro Radio Arena could have been the decisive factor in persuading Coach Wilson to bring Hutchins back into the Vipers fold.
Hutchins is replacing Tyler Willis in the Vipers roster. Willis’s arrival on Tyneside excited the Vipers fans as he had been built up by the club as a hard-hitting winger who would score bucket loads of points in the Elite league. Willis never really impressed only pickig up nine points from the 19 games iced with two of his four goals meaning little as they came late on in a 8-0 rout of Basingstoke Bison. Willis was willing to drop the gloves to stick up for his team mates as his haul of 70 penalty minutes illustrates however with many others on the Vipers roster capable of performing this role Coach Wilson decided to let Willis return to Canada.
Warren Tait started this season icing for Sheffield Scimitars in the EPL after he was released from the Sheffield Steelers. Tait had won the Play Offs with Steelers last season and many fans were surprised that Steelers Coach Dave Matsos axed the popular centre from his squad. However given the form his replacement at Steelers Robert Dowd has shown it is now clear why Tait was not retained by Sheffield’s principal club.
Tait didn’t enjoy the best start to his Scimitars career as his side were struggling for form while he found points hard to come by. Tait posted four assists from the 12 games he iced for Ron Shudra’s side before he was axed in order to allow Shudra to bring in Swedish forward Millqvist to increase the side’s offensive threat. The addition of Hutchins and Tait to Newcastle Vipers alongside the much heralded arrival of Ed Courtenay should give the Vipers a massive boost ahead of their clash with the Nottingham Panthers this weekend (Nov 15). Vipers could be taking on Nottingham at the right time as the Panthers have had a few poor results in recent weeks after they had made such a brilliant start to the season.
Contact the author at Chris.mckenzie@prohockeynews.com
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