BASINGSTOKE, UK- The Bison have added three more names to their roster for the coming campaign in the English Premier League, which includes the first new face to the club.
That is feisty British forward Ciaran Long who joins from local rivals the Slough Jets.
The other two names are familiar to Herd fans as the club have re-signed home town boy Kurt Reynolds and shot stopper Tom Annetts.
Teenage forward Long looks a very good capture for the Bison as the Great Britain junior international has to be one of the brightest young talents in the game.
At still only 19 he has completed two full campaigns in the EPL the first at Swindon where he played most of his junior hockey and last season for play-off winners Slough.
As well as doing well in the domestic game, Long has excelled for Great Britain under-18s and 20s.
Last December he scored the winning penalty shot to secure his country the gold medal in Division 2A and is still eligible to play again this season.
Just 12 months earlier, he also picked up a gold medal as part of a successful promotion campaign for the under-18 side.
Last season the Birmingham UK born forward returned a career high 40 points from 51 points.
He is looking to improve that this season when he suits up for the Bison.
“I feel moving to Basingstoke will give me a lot more ice and I think I can score 30 goals this season and get between 60 to 70 points. I am looking forward to learning from players like Steve Moria and Nicky Chinn and I see no reason why we cannot win silverware,” said Long.
“Ciaran is very talented young player and I think he will do very well for Bison,” said Bison player-coach Moria.
In returning Reynolds the Bison have re-signed one of their most dependable blue liners.
The hometown boy will suit for a third consecutive season for the Herd and the Bison defense is already looking a solid unit with the addition of already signed Tony Redmond and Sam Oakford.
Reynolds’ first season in a Basingstoke shirt was in the Elite League where he had a much more offensive role and picked up 13 points hitting the net four times.
Last term in the English Premier League, the 23-year-old played a much more defensive role for the team and looked as solid as they come on the blue line.
His change of style and more notably 11 games out of the line-up in the regular season due to a broken finger saw him score just once in a total points return of 10.
He was a key member of the very impressive Bison powerplay unit where he shared point man duties with Bison Lithuanian import Mindy Kieras.
Before joining the Herd in the autumn of 2008 he played in Bracknell and before that had a couple of seasons in North America and was also a double gold medal winner as a Great Britain junior.
“I am pleased Kurt has decided to re-sign for the Bison. He did really well to comeback from the injury he did as it is always difficult when it is a hand injury.
“Kurt is a good skater, who reads the game well and is not afraid of the physical play,” said Bison player-coach Steve Moria.
“The fans are great to me in Basingstoke and I had no real hesitation about re-signing and I really think we can win a trophy this season,” said the returning Reynolds.
The player who trade is a hairdresser will now hope he can help the Bison be a cut above the rest this season.
The final latest re-signee is British netminder Annetts as Basingstoke have not decided like most of the EPL not to go down the route of signing an import cageman.
The Bison goalie last season ended the season on a real high especially at the club’s awards night where he picked up the Supporters’ British Player of the Year award and then picked up the coveted Players’ player trophy.
This after the 22-year-old first campaign with the Herd which saw him wrestle away the starters job from another of last summer’s signings Davey Lawrence.
He had only praise from his netminding partner.
“I got along with Davey really well and we pushed each other in training as at the start of the season we did not know who would be starting. Even when I took over as starters’ job he was still there to help me and I thank him for that,” said Annetts.
His whole season hinged on one performance and that was against the Slough Jets in early February.
“Steve rang me up the night before the game to tell me I was starting and I told him I would win the game. Luckily it all worked out,” said Annetts
Back to back defeats was the reason Annetts was called into action having watched from the bench for a few games and he took his chance with both hands recording a shut-out – the only one of the second half of the regular season.
From that victory the Herd won the next seven with the Reading UK born goalie guarding the pipes for all them.
He went on to record an impressive .91 save rate from over 1,600 minutes in net.
He also endeared himself to the fans in the penalty shoot-out victory over eventual champions Milton Keynes.
“I felt Tommy was the best goalie in this league in the second half of the season. He turns up at every training session and game with the same commitment of wanting to do well and I feel he is a key signing and someone I wanted back,” said Moria.
The Bison have not ruled out a few more re-signings before the summer is done to add to a number of new faces that will also be joining the Herd.
Annetts joined Moria and Redmond as the Bison went out in the community last week swapping sticks for kitchen utensils for a special cooking competition.
It was all in a good cause to raise money for the Charlie’s Day Unit at the local hospital and also helping a competitor to get to the Transplant Olympics in Bath UK later this year.
Contact the author Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.com
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