Stewart: Slow start to season expected
Oct 12 2010 by James Hunter, The Journal
DANNY Stewart says Newcastle Vipers’ slow start to the season is only to be expected after the club’s huge turnover of playing staff, writes JAMES HUNTER.
Vipers’ back-to-back defeats against Coventry Blaze at the weekend leaves them with one win from their first eight Elite League games, and player-coach Stewart has admitted his frustration with his side’s inconsistent performances so far.
But, with just two survivors from last season’s squad, he says it is no surprise that his new-look side is taking its time to gel.
“Of course, we haven’t made the start that we wanted to, he said. “And I think the fact that there are so many new players is a big part of that.
“The size of the budget we had to work with meant that we had to bring in a lot of young players.
“We are trying to rebuild a club here from the ground up, so of course it is going to take time for the squad to gel.
“That’s the downside of having a young and inexperienced squad, but the good side is that we will see the benefits further down the line as they get used to playing alongside each other.
“But, given the situation right now, it’s not a complete shock that things have been up and down so far.”
Vipers picked up their first win of the season against Braehead Clan 10 days ago, but they were soundly beaten 7-2 by Stewart’s old side Coventry at Whitley Bay on Saturday night, before putting in a much-improved display in a 3-0 defeat in the return at the Skydome on Sunday.
Stewart said: “I wasn’t at all happy with the way we played on Saturday. I don’t think there was a single player – myself included – who could come off the ice and say they were happy with their performance.
“We were better on Sunday, but still lost. We need to find some consistency and start to put a run of wins together.
“The main thing is that we have to come off the ice after every game knowing we’ve given every thing we have got. Nothing else is acceptable.
“The good thing is that I am seeing more and more positive signs as the season wears on.”
Vipers are next in action on Saturday at home to Hull Stingrays, who arrive at Whitley Bay having played only two games so far.
Stewart said: “Hull are in a similar situation to us, budget-wise, and these are the games that we need to win.
“They are likely to be competing in the same part of the table as us and so it is games against sides like Hull which we can use as a benchmark to measure our own progress.”
LATVIAN Under-20 forward Toms Hartmanis has been voted North East Ice Hockey player of the month for September.
