BASINGSTOKE,U.K – The blue line brigade of the Elite League Basingstke Bison is now complete with the signing of fans favourite Eric Braff.
Braffer returns for a third season with the Herd and completes a very solid looking defence. The Ontario native joins fellow North American trio Trevor Read, Curtiss Patrick and Jason Goulet along with highly rated British defenseman Kurt Reynolds.
Bison Head-coach Ryan Aldridge set out his goals at the start of the summer to build a team which others would not want to play against. His blue line quintet will certainly achieve that with their height and bulk of the players, as there is going to be no where to hide this season in Bisonland.
Braff himself standing 6’4″ is as solid as rock in the blueline division which has not gone unnoticed by the the Herd faithful, voting him the most valuable player in his first season. Last year Braff picked up the Basingstoke Gazette’s Sports Personality of the Year award which was voted by the readers of the Bison’s local newspaper.
Last season, the big defenseman returned a career high 33 points which included six goals which is not bad for a player who was signed as a stay at home defenceman. With the Herd’s limited roster last campaign he often logged over 40 minutes in a game, but maintained a high level of performance as one of the top plus minus men on the team.
“Braffer is a true professional both on and off the ice, he was one player I wanted back and thanks to our partnership with the University of Winchester that has been made possible,” Head coach Aldridge said.
Braff is also relishing his return to Basingstoke. “I wanted to continue playing hockey and having the opportunity to work on my masters degree in finance and business management is a big reason for coming back,” Braff said. ” I’m really looking forward to getting back to Basingstoke for my third season,In all my days of playing hockey, I must say The Bison supporters are at the top in terms of passion for the game and excited to get things going this year and looking forward to Saturday nights in Basingstoke,” B raff continued. Aldy (Ryan Aldridge) has put together a solid defence, we have each played at least three or four years professionally, so hopefully that experience will help if we are leading by one goal late in games.” Braff said. “As long as we use our size to limit the other teams opportunities we will be giving ourselves a chance to win most games,” added the returning defenceman . Contact the author at Graham.merry@prohockeynews.com
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