BASINGSTOKE UK: The Bison have added five more players to their roster for the forthcoming EPL campaign with one being new to the club Tomas Hiadlovsky, while the other four are all returnees Joe Rand, Aaron Connolly, Grant Rounding and Stuart Mogg.
The signings of Hiadlovsky and Rand completes the Herd’s import quota, with head coach Doug Sheppard now taking on the role of spare import for the team.
New boy to the Herd Hiadlovsky is a Slovak shot stopper and this will be his first season in the EPL, but it is not his first season in Britain having played for the past three seasons in Edinburgh Capitals in Scotland.
He will be the second Slovak to suit up for the Herd joining already re-signed defenseman Miroslav Vantroba.
Hiadlovsky, is a former Slovakian junior international and played in the World Championships for the under-18s in 2006, when they finished seventh
He has spent most of his career in Slovakia and played in the top tier of the league for his hometown team HK Dukla Trencin and recorded a 91.4 per cent save rate in season 2009/10 for them.
He arrived in Britain in 2012 and last season, he played 58 games in total for the Scottish side playing 3,472 minutes and facing 1,848 shots and returned an 89.3 per cent rate.
With the defense the Bison have already signed he should see less shots and his save percentage should return to over 90.
Canadian Rand is back for a fourth campaign and is the side’s longest serving import.
The native of Hamilton, Ontario netted 25 times last season in all games on his way to 51 points and in three years for the Bison has scored 64 times in EPL.
He is an excellent two way player and is one of only two players to have scored four times in a single match.
His most memorable goal so far for the Bison was his penalty shot in the play-off final win over Manchester in Coventry in 2013.
The other three re-signings are all Brits and Connolly has also been named as the new captain of the Bison and is leads by example both on and off the ice.
He recorded his second 20 goal season for the Herd last term and also beings a physical edge to the forward line.
The addition of Rand and Connolly now gives Basingstoke six players capable of scoring 20 plus goals a season with the other four being Tomas Karpov, Joe Greener, Ciaran Long and Shaun Thompson.
Connolly was born in Ebbsfleet in Kent and learnt his hockey at Invicta Dynamos, before he joined Slough from where he signed for the Bison in 2013.
Both the other re-signings are local players based in the town and Rounding proved an excellent addition to the line-up last season as he used his speed to great effect.
Injuries kept him out of the team for long periods and he set to miss the start of this campaign, but will be a useful addition once fit.
Basingstoke-born Mogg brings the defensive core up to five and the player who converted to the blue line last season is only going to get better this.
He looks a natural in defense and at only 20-year-old has a long future in the game ahead of him. He was the Herd’s most improved player for the past two campaigns.
“I am very happy with latest additions to the team. I think we have a good set of forwards already and this has allowed me to go down the import netminder route.
“He could well be the best goalie in this league and is the last line of what is looking a very strong defense,” said Doug Sheppard.
You must be logged in to post a comment.