NEWCASTLE VIPERS head coach Rob Wilson said today he was happy with the his side’s pre-season progress. Wilson – in his new role as bench coach – watched his side beat Coventry Blaze at the SkyDome and then draw on Tyneside to get through the weekend unscathed. Last night marked the return to the Arena of former Vipers captain Jonathan Weaver, as well as his former team-mates Michael Tasker and Trevor Koenig – but they failed to cast an Indian sign over their old club with Newcastle heading into the new Elite League season with their tails up. The weekend’s games against Coventry Blaze, which saw the Vipers win 5-3 in the Midlands before drawing 2-2 on Tyneside, taught him plenty about his new-style Vipers line-up. Goals from Petr Kratky and Sergiy Rublivsky earned the Mobilx-backed Vipers a 2-2 draw against last season’s League champions. But the Blaze took an early lead after just 84 seconds through Curtis Huppe before the Vipers' hit back in the middle session to take a 2-1 lead. Dan Carlson earned Coventry a share of the spoils with a powerplay goal 12 minutes from time. After the game, Wilson said: “I’ve learned a lot this past week, in our training camp and in these games. “Already I can see areas for improvement. “That said, I’m very pleased to have come out of the weekend unbeaten. “Coventry are always a very good standard to measure against as they are consistently in the shake up for honours. “Saturday’s game in Coventry was the better of the two as far as I’m concerned, both sides were a little flat tonight. A little tired perhaps and, still finding their game legs. “We will have another good week in practice before starting our league season for real in Hull next week. I’ve said it already, but I am excited with the potential this team has. I can't wait to get going.” Next weekend’s games in the Elite League are away to Hull on Saturday before entertaining Nottingham Panthers at the Newcastle Arena on Sunday night (5.30pm face-off). Meanwhile, Sky Sports today announced coverage of the Elite League with the Vipers set to appear in a weekly TV show. The show will be broadcast initially on Thursday evenings at 5pm on Sky Sports Extra with a repeat on Friday morning. Sky’s first show will be on September 12 with the programme also being beamed out the next day at 5pm. | 
