NEWCASTLE,U.K- Newcastle Vipers look set to start next season with little British talent on their roster. Captain David Longstaff remains on Tyneside however he is the only senior Brit to commit his future to Rob Wilson’s side. Alongside Longstaff the Vipers look set to ice Ben Campbell and Dean Holland on the clubs third line while Ritchie Thornton returns to the Newcastle franchise to provide defensive cover after a season split between the Billingham Bombers and the Hull Stingrays. Thornton replaces Jez Lundin on the Vipers blue line as with his wealth of experience and is a lot less error prone than Lundin.
Youngsters Nathan Salem and Jamie Tinsley will both be hoping to pick up a few shifts here and there for Vipers Elite League side next season. Tinsley impressed with his attitude and work rate when called upon last year by Coach Wilson and he even contributed a few points along the way. Salem had a great campaign for Whitley Bay in both the ENL and the Northern League and the son of former Durham Wasp net minder Chris Salem will surely be eager to test himself at Elite level after proving to be a huge success with the Warriors. Newcastle Vipers do have a lot of promising local youngsters at the club however only having one Brit of high quality (Longstaff) could lead to Vipers struggling to compete with some of the top teams in the League. Jonathan Weaver, Shaun Johnson, Simon Leach and Colin Shields have all left the Vipers in the last few years and it could be argued that the only one of the those players who has been adequately replaced in the squad is Leach. A few of the country’s top Brits have decided to try their look abroad next season with Ashley Tait heading for the continent and Matt Myers trying his luck in the North American Minors which will at least mean teams like Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers do not have as much British talent to call on for the 2009-10 campaign.
With Paul Sample retiring and a lot of the other top Brits like Greg Owen and Russ Cowley already contracted to clubs it appears Vipers will be struggling to bring in any more home grown talent into the side for next term. The way for the club to move forward could well be to snap up any promising local talent from the regions other sides and to scout the Northern League for any promising young players coming through the Scottish system. Contact the author at Chris.mckenzie@prohockeynews.com
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