Hard work pays off
VIPERS co-owners Rob Wilson and Paul Ferone are feeling on top of the world having taken the club to the pinnacle of the Elite League for the first time in history.
In a month when the Vipers will also play Nottingham Panthers in the two-legged semi-final of the Challenge Cup, Wilson said: "We couldn't be happier. It's a great situation, it's something we've worked really hard for."
Vipers went clear top above leaders Coventry having beaten the Blaze on Saturday and then returned to Tyneside to beat Edinburgh Capitals 4-2 on Wednesday.
Now, with the Blaze holding important games in hand, the Vipers face Coventry in a top of the table clash at the Metro Radio Arena on Saturday, with the chance to extend their lead and show they really are fit for the top.
Wilson said: "Coventry's a very, very good team, one of the biggest clubs in the country. They have just had a bad week. I think, for them, they have probably looked at it and thought we've had an unbelievable start, how are we not in first place?'
"If we win on Saturday, we are starting to look like real title contenders."
The victory over Edinburgh came in a match in which the Vipers failed to exert their dominance.
However, Wilson said: "A lot of times this happens, it obviously happens in every sport. You are expecting a big performance - I actually said to Paul (Ferone, co-owner) I think we're going to have a great performance' - and all of a sudden you get this flat performance.
"We let them stay in it all game. At 3-0 we should have finished them off. The positive is that we are top of the league, we went out and won on a bad game. That's what makes a team win championships."
Ferone, who has arrived in the country for two weeks, joked that hitting top spot was the result of his return to the country and that the success on the ice this year was down to the retirement of himself and his co-director.
Taking a more serious stance, though, he said that the potential in the team was something they had spotted in the summer.
He said: "Some of the players we were signing, me and him (Wilson), maybe not everybody else around the league, but we thought we were on to something. To me, it was good player after good player. Me and Rob, in the summer we knew we were going to have a good team. There is a lot of talented players in that room. If one of the guys has a night off, there is someone there to put the puck in the back of the net."
10:27am Thursday 15th November 2007
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