Basingstoke UK: The Bison have nearly completed their roster for the forthcoming season after adding four six more names to their squad.
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All of them have played for the Herd before either last season or in the past.
They are netminders Dean Skinns and Dan Weller-Evans, defensemen Kurt Reynolds and Stuart Mogg along with forwards Hallam Wilson and Paul Petts.
Basingstoke-born Skinns returns to the Herd after a two year break having suited up for Milton Keynes Lightning and Guildford Flames last term.
The 32-year-old former All Star shot stopper, became the first player in club’s history last season to have recorded shut-outs for the Bison and for two different clubs against the Bison in Swindon and Guildford.
He is joint top of the shut-out king for the Herd along with Canadian Curtis Cruickshank and the man he replaces Slovak Tomas Hiadlovsky all with seven a piece.
For Basingstoke-born Skinns this will be his ninth season in a Bison uniform and when last at the club become the first goalie to play over 10,000 league minutes between the pipes.
Skinns will be the main starting netminder with Weller-Evans a very capable back-up.
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The 23-year-old from Bridgend is back for a fourth season and the pair were last together when the Bison won the double.
Last season, the Welshman played in five league games and one play-off match and also played the whole 60 minutes when the Bison beat a National Ice Hockey Select side.
The previous year, Weller-Evans, was called into action five times during the league campaign.
This included stepping off the bench after Hiadlovsky was injured in the eighth minute of a home game against the Hull Pirates and he helped the Bison to a 7-2 win.
Later in the same campaign and against the same team Weller-Evans took over from Jon Baston, to blank the Pirates and share the shut-out.
Top British defenseman Kurt Reynolds, will this season chalk up 10 years for the Herd, and so he will have a testimonial at the end of the campaign.
The Basingstoke-born player was twice an EPL All-Star and 30-year-old first played for the Bison in season 2008/09 their last in the Elite League.
He played for the Herd in every one of their EPL season and has now made over 400 league appearances and only Tony Redmond has played more games for the club.
He is the third highest point’s scoring defenseman in the club’s history, but the top Brit as number one and two in the list are Canadians Russ Parent and Gary Douville.
Defenceman Mogg is back for a fifth full season and is also another product of the Bison junior programme.
The 22-year-old Basingstoke-born player is 13th in the all time scoring defenceman and one of 66 players to have reached 50 league points.
He is another really important signing which gives the Bison defence now fifth solid blue liners.
Forwards Paul Petts and Hallam Wilson, like all the other four players above are both product of Basingstoke’s super junior development programme.
The pair have signed on a two-way deal with the Basingstoke Buffalo, which will see them train full time with the senior team and play for the Herd, when they are not in action with the Buffalo.
Gosport-born Petts was the under-20 Bison captain last season and played twice for the Bison last term.
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