BASINGSTOKE,U.K-Just when the Basingstoke Bison were looking forward for a better second half of the current season. They get bitten where he hurts the most with the news that their all-star goalie Kevin Reiter has been ruled out for at least a two weeks if not longer.
The Pittsburgh-born shot stopper voted the best goalie in the IHL has been a real inspiration for the Herd, this season, but suffered an ankle injury in their final game of 2008, when the team went down 4-2 in Murrayfield to the Edinburgh Capitals.
Bison are chasing the Capitals for the final Elite League play-off spot, so leaving player-coach Eric Braff to shake his head in disbelief.
“Losing a player who is arguably the best goalie in this league is going to hurt any time, we have to just grin an bare and try to work through it the best we can, but his is really what we really do not need this right now,” Braff said.
This is the first time Reiter has suffered an ankle injury and is disappointed at having to sit out a few games having dressed and played in every game last season in the IHL, a total of 97.
The Bison fans will now have their fingers crossed that the shot stopper is back for the club’s Challenge Cup semi-final games later in January, when the Herd will take their bow in the final four of the competition, for the first time in the club’s history as they go head-to-head with the Manchester Phoenix.
Elsewhere in the Bison camp they have welcomed two new recruits to their roster, in hard nosed Canadian centreman Mike Olynyk and Czech Republic defenseman Robert Pospisil.
Pospisil has slotted into the blue line brigade with ease, linking up with Braff in a solid partnership. He is not a stand-out player but a solid team man. Pospisil picked up his first point for the club in the opening game in 2009, a 4-2 home loss to Cardiff Devils.
He started his career at HC Pardubice in season 1996-97 and brings a wealth of experience to the team, having also played in France, Austria, Poland and Russia.
For 27-year-old Sparwood, British Columbia native Olynyk, he is highly rated by new Bison captain Brent Hughes – a team mate from Port Huron last season. Olynyk had a good junior career in the BCHL, where he scored 154 points and also collected over 400 minutes as well. In his rookie professional season in 2002-03 he helped the Austin Ice Bats to the President’s Cup finals in the Central Hockey League, the first of three years in Texas for him. His next season was split between the Quad City Mallards and the , Missouri River Otters, of the United Hockey League.
In the autumn of 2006, he moved to Port Huron and last season was still playing for the same franchise, but now in the IHL. This year he played four games which included three fights for Muskegon Lumberjacks before a hamstring injury in late October saw him out of action.
In his first game back was on December 27, helping his new Bison team to a 5-4 home victory over Hull Stingrays and also picked up a point on his debut with an assist.
“I was pretty clued up on what to expect when I got here from Hughsey (Brent Hughes) and I think I am going to enjoy this style of hockey. I will dish out the hits and hopefully make space for other players out there and I would also like to chip in with a few goals,” Olynyk said. Contact the author at Graham.merry@prohockeynews.com
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