NEWCASTLE, UK – It has been confirmed that Newcastle Vipers will play out of the Hillheads rink at Whitley Bay next season. Vipers had been hopeful of securing ice time back at the Arena in Newcastle however a late change of heart by the owners of the Arena forced Newcastle Chairman Paddy O’Conner into a rethink of where Vipers would play their hockey next term.
Many fans would have preferred Newcastle to play out of the more modern venue in the city centre however there are some benefits from playing at the tight compact rink on the coast. From a supporters point of view I feel playing at a traditional ice rink leads to a better atmosphere and improved sight lines for spectators. Fans can also get extremely close to the action given that the seats are only a few feet away from plexi.
From a team perspective few opposing sides can enjoy playing at Whitley Bay which in theory should give Vipers an advantage in their home games as the big names from the other Elite League sides could well take some time to adapt to the surroundings at Hillheads. Newcastle did struggle to cope with the small ice surface at the Bay this term however the organisations new coach can recruit his roster in the knowledge that his team will be playing at least half of their games on a old fashioned compact rink.
Where the Vipers will play long term is one issue that has not been addressed. It would appear unlikely that Newcastle will return to play out of the Arena which leaves the club with only Hillheads as an option at this moment in time. A new rink is set to be built in Durham while there are also proposals for a ice pad in Gateshead however neither of these projects looks set to be completed in the near future which leaves Vipers with few viable home venues open to them.
If a move to Durham was a possibility in the future this could cause conflict between supporters as there are still some fans in the north east who hold the old Durham/Whitley rivalry very dearly and many of these supporters would be unwillingly to follow a side that is playing out of the city that the ‘Big Blue Machine’ used to call its home.
It would appear that the best all round long term home for the Vipers would be in Gateshead if the rink there went ahead. As the town holds no ice hockey history fans from the Heineken era of both of the Durham Wasps and Whitley Bay Warriors would presumably feel happy to follow a side that played out of rink there. However at the moment there are no concrete plans for the Tyneside development so it is possible that Vipers may well have to play out of Hillheads for a lengthy period of time before another facility becomes available to the side from the north east.
Contact the author Chris.MacKenzie@Prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.