Vipers veteran Longstaff is ready for long haul

Mar 6 2010 by Neil Farrington, The Journal

HULL Stingrays and Cardiff Devils have been warned to expect a backlash this weekend as the “real” David Longstaff returns to action with the Newcastle Vipers.

Although he returned from a knee injury against Sheffield last Saturday, the Vipers skipper was not at his talismanic best against the Steelers and sat out the game at Edinburgh the following night.

However, Longstaff has allayed fears of any fresh injury concerns, insisting illness was to blame for his low-key return.

The evergreen 35-year-old said: “I have had a virus for two weeks, which meant I was not 100 per cent last weekend. However, I am feeling fight fit now and raring to go this weekend.” A victory double would catapult the Vipers back into the race for fifth place in the table and a favourable end-of-season play-off draw.

The lowly Stingrays, who visit Tyneside tonight and provide the opposition for three of the Vipers’ seven remaining regular-season games, have been warned to beware the “Whitley effect”.

Having struggled initially to make the transition from the cavernous Metro Radio Arena to a cramped Whitley Bay Ice Rink, the Vipers now see their modest home as a fortress.

Defenceman Mark Gouett said: “The crowd like watching their hockey at Whitley Bay, and the players are feeding off of that.

“It is easy to underestimate the Whitley effect. It has been quite a long time coming, but we feel the value of the place now.

“It is a small rink and the crowd are right on top of you, which produces a great atmosphere, which in turn means more and more people are seeing the value of coming to watch us.

“At first at Whitley, we noticed it was pretty much only familiar faces in the stands.

“Now we are attracting more and more new fans – and a lot of kids among them – from throughout Tyneside.“

VIPERS host Hull Stingrays at Whitley Bay Ice Rink tomorrow night (6.30pm).

Tickets are available from the Vipers office on 0191 261 0909, at www.vipershockey.co.uk/shop or from the club shop on Shakespeare Street, Newcastle.