BASINGSTOKE, UK – The Bison have been busy this week adding to their line-up for the run-in of the regular season, as they snapped up British pair Shaun Thompson and Andy Sande. For both of them this will be their third spell pulling on a Bison jersey and the duo are sure to add even more depth to a strong looking roster.
The return of Thompson, the Bison top scoring Brit in their final year in the Elite League, is sure to give the team a great boost. He made his debut in the Basingstoke’s 5-1 win over the Sheffield Scimitars and slotted in at centreman on the all Bison Brit line with Andy Hemmings and Jamie Line. This will probably only be a temporary berth as he could well move to play alongside Steve Moria and Ondrej Lauko, or even play as centre to Ollie Bronnimann and Joe Ciccarello. It certainly gives Bison player-coach Steve Moria some options to play around with.
The potential of Thompson was first spotted by Moria when he was only 16 and made his Bison debut and was one the youngest players in over a decade to score in the top flight when he grabbed his first Basingstoke goal. From there he went to make over 150 appearances for the club and last year scored 17 times in a points tally of 40.
Shaun Thompson back in Bison colours (Photo: Basingstoke Bison)
He failed to pick up a point in his first weekend after his switch from the Hull Stingrays, but Moria is not worried.
“After a few weeks of training we will then see the best out of Shaun. I am sure he will add something to our line-up, as he is such a gutsy and competitive player,” said Moria.
For the Bison’s other new signing Sande in his first spell at the club his surname was Einhorn which often causes confusion with fans as they are one and the same player.
Like Thompson, as a teenager he first iced in Basingstoke having been spotted by the future Bison head coach Peter Woods when he was in Sweden. Sande arrived to these shores looking to qualify for the junior Great Britain team, his father being English having been born in the popular seaside resort of Blackpool. This he achieved playing for Great Britain under-21 in 1997 and even scored a goal.
The 33-year-old Stockholm-born player started playing his hockey on the outdoor rinks in Sweden and then went onto play for the Herd in their first season in the now long gone Superleague.
He then played in the old British National League with Guildford, Bracknell and Cardiff before returning to Basingstoke in the autumn of 2005 to play in the Elite League where in 31 games he picked up 10 assists.
“This gives us some added depth in defense. Andy has not played competitively for a couple of years. He will train with us this week and we will take it from there,” said Moria.
If he does make the line-up for the weekend, it will certainly be a baptism of fire as the Bison face a double header against title chasing Slough Jets.
The Herd will be looking to put behind them the disappointment of their six game winning streak coming to an end as they lost 5-4 on Sunday night at leaders Milton Keynes Lightning. British defenseman Kurt Reynolds first goal
Ollie Bronniman scoring goals (Photo Basingstoke Gazette)
The home side then mounted a comeback as Andre Smulter and Lukas Zetopek both scored, before a great solo strike from Bronnimann made it 4-2 at the second buzzer. However, the final period saw three unanswered goals from the Lightning as Leigh Jamieson got the first two and then Grant McPherson netted the game winner.
The previous night, Basingstoke’s Slovak star Lauko was on fire as he grabbed his second four goal haul of the season in his side’s 5-1 success over the visiting Sheffield Scimitars. Moria scored the other Bison goal in a comfortable win in a game in which Scims netminder Ben Bowns had a great game, despite the scoreline.
“I think that is the best we have played against Sheffield this season and we had a lot of good quality opportunities and their goalie kept them in the game,” said Moria.
Contact the author Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.com
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