BASINGSTOKE, U.K – The Herd of the Elite league Basingstoke Bison continues to grow with two more additions in Canadian forward Austin Sutter and British netminder Joe White.
Left winger Sutter is the third of six expected non-British trained players to grace the offensive unit for the Bison this season. The latest capture will turn 23 later this month (July) and hails from Red Deer, Alberta.
He is the second player this summer to be heading to the Bison from CHL outfit Amarillo Gorillas, following hot on the heels of offensive defenseman Trevor Read. The pair were house mates during last season in Texas and are delighted to re-united for another season.
“He is good skater with a good hard shot and can pass the puck well, with the right guys he will score a lot of points and I think it will do well for the Bison,” Read said.
The Herd’s latest forward signing headed the scoring charts for the Powell River Kings of the BCHL with 70 points which saw him score 26 times in
Photo coutesy of http://www.pointstreak.com/
That was his second year in Texas, having been traded early in season 2006-07 from the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, where he played just three times. In total, he played 122 games in Amarillo scoring 99 points in the regular season and two more in a six game stint in the play-offs.
Sutter is one of two left wingers on the Bison roster for the coming campaign, with the club’s top points scorer last season Greg Chambers expected to ice on the top line. The new addition will slot on the second line along with two other imports or with British centreman Mark Richardson signed earlier in the summer.
“He wants to come to this country and make a name for himself, I have had a number of good reports about him and think this is another great signing for the Bison,” said head coach Ryan Aldridge about his new forward.
The Bison’s other signing is one of the top young goalies in UK and the Great Britain under-20 international, who played in the World Championships last December, will make the short trip east from Swindon Wildcats to join the Bison.
The 19-year-old cage man has spent the last two years in the English Premier League as the Wildcats back-up netminder, which is the role he will take on for the Bison. He replaces Dan Green who has joined rivals Sheffield Steelers.
White was born in Sidcup in Kent, UK and learnt his hockey at nearby Gillingham playing for Invicta Dynamos. In season 2003-04 he back-stopped the Guildford Firestars to the English under-16 crown returning a save percentage of 94.9. After that he had a spell at Omaha Energy in North America before playing for the Wildcats for two season’s as their back-up.
“He is a good young goalie, who wants to prove himself and feels that a move into the Elite League is the right step for him, I have heard only good things about him and he did well for Swindon last season when he was called upon,” Aldridge said “It is a difficult job being a back-up, but he knows what it is all about from being at Swindon, he is going to get the opportunity to play, and I am sure he will not disappoint.” The Bison’s import goalie who has yet to be announced will play the bulk of the games for the Herd in the coming 2008-09 campaign. Contact the author at Graham.merry@prohockeynews.com Photo: Austin Sutter Photo coutesy of http://www.pointstreak.com/
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