BASINGSTOKE,U.K- The basement tag of the Basingstoke Bison is set to disappear this season. This after the Hampshire side moved down a tier in the British game from the Elite League to the English Premier League (EPL). The move has been welcomed by the fans and the Herd have put together a competive side and will be hoping to bag some silverware.
When Basingstoke last played in the second tier they won back-to-back Benson and Hedges Plate titles, but nothing is taken for granted in sport and there will be nine other teams with the same ideas. Planet Ice, the owners of the Bison have made sure that they have a very experienced man at the helm for the side’s first campaign in EPL. They don’t come more experienced than Steve Moria, a legend in the British game who has made the short trip down the M4 motorway to Basingstoke to lead the Herd once more. The Vancouver-born player-coach was last in town for two seasons between 2002 and 2004 and in his final year was the club top goal scorer, in one of their best seasons in the Elite League.
Moria returns to Basingstoke in a multi-year deal as Director of Hockey Operations with his prime role being player-coach of the Bison. Last season, he guided the Slough Jets to fourth spot in the EPL and to the play-off finals, but missed out on repeating his play-off victory of the previous year. “I am even more exciting this time around than when I first came to Basingstoke. This is fresh start and I know the last two years have been tough for the fans, but we want to be challenging for trophies, I believe I have put a team together that is capable of doing that. We will just have to wait and see now,” Moria said.
With the differing rules on imports allowing 10 in the Elite League and four in the EPL, it was always going to be a new look Bison that was going to hit the ice in the autumn. Only one player from last season’s roster Kurt Reynolds remains and the highly rated Basingstoke-born defenseman turned down offers with Elite teams to stay a member of the Herd and be part of the new adventure.
So with no core of experienced players to build a team around, Moria returned to Slough and signed up Tony Redmond, Joe Ciccarello and Nicky Chinn. All three had worn a Basingstoke shirt in the past, Redmond holding the record for the most appearances for the club, while Chinn guested in a couple of games. But all three have a wealth of experience which is just what the new team needed.
Redmond, a true Bison fans’ favourite who when he decides to hang his skates up will surely see his #20 shirt retired. The Scottish-born defenseman will also take on the role as he did in Slough last year of assistant-coach. The signing of Ciccarello will see one of the most lethal partnerships in the EPL once again put fear into the hearts of opposing defensemen. The Calgary-born sharp-shooter bagging a career high 41 goals last season to earned him a place on the EPL first all-star team along with Moria.
The final member of the experienced trio is Chinn, the Jets captain last season was also their leading British points scorer with 61 points from 54 games. The Herds fans remember this feisty forward from his days at Cardiff Devils and from previous local derby matches with the Guildford Flames. The only new import to the offensive line is Slovakian born forward Ondrej Lauko. The free scoring forward make his debut in Britain in the autumn after a very successful career in Poland and his native Slovakia. He topped the scoring charts for Polish side Naprzod Janow with 49 points and was also was their top goal scorer hitting the net 23 times in 54 games. Of course the Bison have also added some exciting younger talent in what looks a perfect mixture in the offensive lines and will give Moria plenty of fire power to play with. Scott Spearing is another former Jet, but has played in a Basingstoke before and scored on his debut back in November 2005 and Oliver Bronnimann is a former Flame looking to get amongst the goals again. Tom Long arrives in town after an impressive season on the island with the Isle of Wight Raiders, where he was their Player of the Year, while Andrew Hemmings is another useful addition.
The speedy Jamie Line adds another dimension, as does the grit and size of Chris Wiggins. Along with Redmond and Reynolds on defence, the Bison have captured the exciting Mindy Kieras. Kieras was regarded as one of the top offensive defensemen in the EPL three years ago when he was with the MK Lightning. The Lithuania played in the Latvian League for the past two seasons and was the fourth and final import to sign for the Herd. The final two places of a very solid looking defensive core are Sam Oakford from Bracknell Bees and Sam Zajac from Telford Tigers, both were award winners for their teams last season. The last line of defence is an all British affair this season with highly rated Yorkshire-born Davey Lawrence set to get the starting netminders job. But Berkshire-born Tom Annetts who arrives from Bracknell is going to push him all the way, which can only be a good thing for the Bison. The home fans will get a chance to see their new team in action for the first time on Saturday September 12, when they take on local rivals the Bracknell Bees in a pre-season challenge. T he return game is 24 hours later in Berkshire, which will see the shirt of Bees stalwart and former Bison Matt Cote retired. Contact the author at Graham.merry@prohockeynews.com
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