BASINGSTOKE UK: The Bison continue to build what looks like a very good roster to defend their EPL crown.
The Herd have added four re-signings in Declan Balmer, Stuart Mogg, Tomas Hiadlovsky and Alan Lack as well as two new faces to the side which are Dan Davies and Ivan Antonov.
Forward Davies who won a league title with Telford two seasons ago and had also won the play-offs twice with the Slough Jets.
He is now returning to the south of England to once again link up with former head coach Doug Sheppard who coached him at Slough.
Davies suffered from an injury hit campaign last season only collecting 27 points, but during his time at Slough he hit a career high 66 points and he hoping to improve his points production this season.
Russian-born Antonov is classed as a British forward and topped the Bracknell Bees scoring for home grown players.
The Great Britain junior international who is still only 19 returned 65 points for the Berkshire side last season, lighting the lamp 24 times.
Both forward will certainly add even more firepower to the Bison offence
Hull-born Balmer led the Herd’s defensive scoring last season, his second with the Hampshire outfit.
He recorded 27 points hitting the net seven times his first ever goals in the EPL. He also picked up 88 minutes in penalties and is a solid hitter on the blue line and is a player Sheppard feels is still developing as he is only 20-year-old.
Mogg is another defenseman having moved back to blue line a couple of seasons ago. The Basingstoke-born he came through the ranks to the junior programme and also had a spell as a forward last term and scored eight goals in a 26 points tally.
Slovak shot stopper Hiadlovsky won back the starting netminder role on the team last season from All Star goalie Jon Baston. Having suffered two injuries which kept him out of the line-up for three months, the import cageman returned and saw off his rival with some solid performance.
He finished the year with a 2.4 GAA which was his first season in EPL having joined the Bison from Elite League Edinburgh Capitals.
Forward Lack joined the Herd right at the start of last season and the Essex-based player proved to be a great addition and linked up really well with line mates Ciaran Long and Tomas Karpov.
Long and Karpov are previous re-signees, so Sheppard already has a ready made line when the campaign starts in September.
Lack had a career high 32 points hitting the net 15 times. He is a forward who is not afraid to get his nose dirty in the corners and despite his small frame can dish out the big hits.
“I am really excited about the way this team is coming together and really feel we a very good chance of defending our title,” said Bison head coach Sheppard.
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